Thorin's Rose
by sarenelsoria
Summary: When Bilbo was banished 15 years ago he took more than a chest of gold, he took Erebor's greatest treasure Rose Ris Baggins is not like other hobbits, she doesn't even grow as they do.When an eagle suggests that she visit the Daddy she's never met,she runs away to Erebor. Bilbo scared for his child, goes back to Erebor and to the lost love that resides there. Thorin/Bilbo no death
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ris stared at the raven and the bird stared back at her. "You are from the line of Durin, one of the dwarves of Durin is your sire."

"You know my Daddy?" Ris asked staring at the crow in her purple flower dress, her bushy black hair in pigtails. "Papa won't tell me anything about him, but he was my Daddy and he did a bad thing."

"How old are you child?" The crow demanded and Ris grinned, showing a gaped tooth smile.

"I'm fourteen, but Daddy says that I'm seven in human years." Ris said.

"Are you not supposed to be?" The crow asked and Ris shook her head.

"Papa says I'm his special little princess and to ignore anyone that is mean to me, but a lot of people are mean to me and I'd like to know Daddy, do you know where my Daddy is?"

"Indeed I do, I can get a pretty big bird to carry you to him." The raven said. "But your Papa would be angry."

"I don't belong here, I want my Daddy and maybe if I go to him, Papa will come after me and I can have two parents like a normal girl." Ris said.

"You are a perfectly normal girl." The crow said. "You are just a bit different, we all are and sometimes other people do not appreciate difference so they are mean."

"Okay, where will the big bird come and when?"

"Tomorrow morning you must get to a clearing in the forest a little ways from here, can you do that child?" The crow asked and Ris looked him up and down before nodding. "Good I'll see you tomorrow." The crow said and flew away.

All day and night Ris waited excitedly unable to sleep. She packed up her favorite doll, her beading box, her hair brush, hair ribbon and several of her dresses into a backpack her Papa had gotten for her, as well as several loaves of bread. Ultimately she went out before the sun was up unable to sleep and longing to see her Daddy. To know who she was finally and to be able to play with him and have her teach her things those were more interesting than flowers and cooking. She didn't know what Durin was, but maybe it was her Daddy's name and maybe he'd want to see her as much as she wanted to see him. If not the eagle could just take her back to the boring shire and Papa would scold her for going. Papa never got really angry though and even when he did, she knew Papa would never hurt her. She paused outside the clearing, what if Daddy hurt her? What if her Daddy hated her? She squared her shoulders and strode into the clearing, to her surprise an eagle was waiting for her. It stared at her and she stared back, arching one eyebrow and placing her hands on her hips.

"You gonna give me a ride to my Daddy or not?" She asked and the bird nodded. She climbed up on the back of the bird and the bird took off flying high above the shire. The little girl laughed and held out her arms, feeling the wind rush past her. After a time flying grew boring, but they were already passing over other lands and Ris knew she couldn't turn back. She started to miss her Papa and realized how worried he'd be despite the note she left him on the dining table.

She stared out into the cloudless sky, before taking some of her bread out and eating it. On they flew until Ris grew tired and leaned forward against the back of the bird, resting her head on its neck. She slept that way the first night and for four nights after, whoever her Daddy was, he was a really long way away. The birds that carried her changed after the second night and the ride became less fun, more boring, it was a very happy little girl who touched down in front of two giant men wielding axes. She stared up at them with awe because her face was like theirs. She walked through the gates without anyone noticing and into a market full of people that looked like her. They were wearing every color of the rainbow, were everything from fat to thin and all spoke some strange language. A boy about her age came up to her and smiled, before saying something completely incomprehensible.

"I only speak Westron, do you know my Daddy?" The little girl asked innocently. "The crow said that he was a Durin, but I don't know what a Durin is." Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her.

"Who are you Mi Lady?" Someone in a red uniform carrying two axes said."

"I'm Rose Ris Baggins of the Shire, but I like to be called Ris." Ris said and smiled. "At your service." She said and curtsied deeply.

"It is I that am at your service Mi Lady, you look exactly like your Daddy. If you wish I can take you to him now."

"Can I brush my hair first, it got really tangled on the ride over, I flew on the back of this really big bird, and it was so amazing!" She said and several of the people smiled, a few even laughed.

"You don't have much of your Papa about you, do you?"

"Papa says I'm his special little Princess and its alright if I hate cooking, gardening and gathering flowers but its something I must learn. I wanted to see my Daddy, so that's why I came when the nice crow did."

"I see." The guard said. "Well then Mi Lady, will you come with me and I can get a dwarrowdam to help you clean up."

"Not a baby!" Ris said and crossed her arms. "I can clean myself."

"I'm sure you can, but your hair is badly knotted and you can't take care of that yourself." The man said and Ris nodded, following him to an elevator and taking a boring ride in it up several floors. She complained and the guard laughed. "Just like a Durin to not want to sit still, we are almost there Mi Lady."

"My name is Ris, not Mi Lady." Ris said.

"Very well Lady Ris." The dwarf said and Ris cocked her head to the side curiously.

"Why am I a Lady, I know I am a girl, but no one ever called me Lady before." Ris said and the guard smiled.

"You are a very outspoken child, your Daddy will explain, after he gets over the wonderful surprise of seeing you. Still fourteen year old girls shouldn't go off on adventures all by themselves."

"Why?" Ris asked.

"Because its dangerous out in the wild and you could have been hurt." The dwarf said, before they left the elevator, Ris touched the stone with her bare feet and grinned, as she felt its welcome, this was home, all it needed was Papa and everything would be good again. She missed Papa and knew that he must be worried for her, but she was glad she met the man with the axes. The man knocked on a door and waited.

"Who is it?" Someone asked from within.

"One of the guards and a special little visitor, she wants to meet her Daddy and I think she's from the line of Durin." The dwarf said and the door opened quickly, a woman stood outside of it holding a knife and stared at Ris, who stared back right at her.

"Who are you?" Ris asked. "I'm Ris, that's a cool knife."

"Does nothing scare you child?" The dwarrowdam asked.

"Papa saying I have to garden, I hate gardening, I like your dress its really pretty. I have flower dresses mostly, Papa wants me to like flowers but I don't. Why do you dress funny and talk funny?"

"We're dwarves and you seem to be half dwarven."

"Oh okay, the nice man said you could help me with my hair, it got all knotted on the flight here. I flew on the back of this really big bird." Ris said and the dwarrowdam smiled.

"That's lovely, I'm Gera and my son is away at school, but he's much older than you."

"Oh okay." The child said. "Is he nice, cause the others weren't they called me slow and stuck in time. They grew a lot bigger than me faster than me and it wasn't fair." Ris said and her eyes filled with tears, Gera held the child in her arms and stroked her hair.

"People aren't very nice sometimes are they, but I'm sure your Papa loves you very much and you are my cousin by marriage."

"Your my kin?" Ris asked and Gera held her back a little bit.

"You look every inch a Durin, there's no doubting that we're related." Gera said and Ris grinned. "Come inside and I'll make you some breakfast and we can see to making you all pretty for your Daddy."

"Okay." Ris said and went inside with Gera. Gera set the kettle on to boil and made a quick breakfast for the little girl who ate hungrily. "I packed bread, but I didn't know how long the eagle would fly with me, it ran out last afternoon, thank you for the food."

"Of course child, I'd never let a little one go hungry." Gera said and smiled at Ris, before going over to another room and running a bath. "You know how to wash by yourself?"

"I can wash myself, but my hair is really tangled and it hurts really bad when you pull it."

"I know what you mean, did your Papa pull it?"

"Only when he was brushing it, but when I was old enough he gave the brush to me and I did it." Ris said and stepped into the bathroom. "Wow that's really big, I can't swim."

"Neither can your Papa, I filled it only a quarter full, so you should be alright Ris." Gera said and Ris nodded.

"Thank you kindly mam, for the food and the bath."

"Of course, you are my kin, what is mine is yours." Gera said and Ris smiled, before hugging Gera. Gera smiled and patted her head, before leaving the room. Ris pulled off her dress and under things and got into the water, scrubbing her skin until it was clean and smelled like roses. She also washed her hair and put conditioner in it, because without the conditioner it would feel bad to brush it. She then tried to comb it with her fingers, but her fingers caught in it and it hurt horribly. She quickly gave up trying to tame it, before taking a towel and drying herself off. She then put on a clean dress and opened the door. The nice lady was standing by a chair with several brushes and combs. "This will take a while, but I'll try to make it as painless as possible." Ris bit her lip before nodding. She sat down and felt only a faint tingling sensation; she stopped grabbing the chair arms and let herself enjoy having her hair brushed, for the first time in her life. "I can teach you how to brush and braid it, so it won't hurt so much."

"Really?" Ris asked.

"Yes of course." Gera replied and continued to brush her hair, it felt nice and soothing and Ris hadn't been able to sleep very well on the back of the eagle, soon the little girl was nodding, her head snapping back up when it fell and Gera smiled as she cared for the sleepy child. She gently moved the little girl's head back against the chair, when she fell asleep again and continued to brush the sleeping child's hair. When she was done and it was braided, her resemblance to Thorin was uncanny. Gera stared down at the sleeping child, before carefully picking her up from the chair. The little girl sighed and burrowed into Gera, warming the dwarrowdam's heart. How could anyone not love this child, how could anyone not see how precious she was. Gera walked with her tiny treasure to the spare bedroom and settled the child into the bed, turning on a lamp in the corner, just in case the dark frightened her like it had Gera's son Gimli when he was small. She covered the child with blankets and left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The little girl slept for several hours and Gera went down to the market and bought the child a dress in the dwarven style and shoes, as little girls weren't supposed to go barefoot in Erebor. She then hurried back relieved that the child hadn't woken while she was gone. The little girl stirred several minutes after Gera's return and opened her eyes. She looked confused for a moment, before she remembered where she was and went over to the rocking chair where Gera was reading and climbed into Gera's lap. "Read it to me."

"You don't know Khudzul dear and this is written in the language of our forefathers." Gera said and the little girl frowned.

"Then you got another book?" The child asked and Gera laughed.

"Most of these are written in Khuzdul and now that you're up, we can go see Daddy."

"Yea! I get to see Daddy!" Ris said and Gera smiled at the child, before getting out the dress. "Is that for me?"

"I don't see any other little girls around here do you? You have to wear shoes in the mountain though."

"Why I might not feel it then."

"You can feel the mountain?"

"Yes! But it doesn't talk, it just sends feelings, its happy now." The little girl said and Gera stared at the child, stone sense was a fairly rare gift for dwarves and it was clear the child had it.

"That's nice dear, but you want to pay attention to meeting Daddy, your cousins and your Auntie, don't you?" Gera asked and the little girl frowned before nodding.

"I have cousins and a Auntie?"

"Yes and several other cousins, who are going to be more like Uncles to you." Gera said and the little girl beamed. She took the dress and Gera left the room, but soon the child was calling her back.

"I can't reach the buttons." The little girl said and Gera smiled, helping the child to button the dress in back. The little girl twirled in her new dress and shoes and laughed as the skirt swirled out in front of her, she stared as it sparkled with the small amethysts that had been sewn into the gown. "Thank you!" Ris said and hugged Gera. "This is so much better than flower gowns!" She added and Gera laughed before taking the child's hand and walking with her to where the council met. Everyone she passed stared at Ris and she smiled and waved cheerfully, but they didn't wave back, just continuing to stare. "Why's everyone strain' at me?"

"Because you are the most beautiful little girl in all of Erebor." Gera said. "And you look a lot like your Daddy."

"Oh okay." Ris said and they came up to two large oak doors which two men swung open upon seeing them. Ris stared at the table and saw a man that looked almost exactly like her. "Daddy!" She said and the man stared at her, before his arms were full of the little girl. He stared down at the child in complete and utter shock, which the little girl didn't notice, as she climbed into his lap. "I'm Ris and the crow told me to come here, when he saw me and I met Gera, she's really really nice and I got to fly on the back of the biggest bird, but I miss Papa and I wanted to see you!"

"Child slow down." Thorin said gently. "I can't hear you when you talk so fast."

"Oh okay, Papa says I talk really fast too, he says that I'm more like you then him, but he never would tell me anything about my Daddy, save that I have one. This place is really neat and the mountain is really nice." The little girl added and Thorin stared at her in shock.

"Well she has your gift of gab Thorin." Balin said amused.

"Your like really old!" The child said and Balin laughed.

"That's not a very polite thing to say child." Balin said. "I know I'm old, but when you're old, you don't like people to take notice of it."

"I get it." Ris said and smiled at the two young men. "Are you my cousins, the nice lady said I had some here."

"Yes little gem we are, I'm Fili and this is Kili, so what is your name?"

"Rose Ris Baggins." Ris said. "I like to be called Ris though, flowers are yucky." She added and the council laughed.

"Your a very open child aren't you?"

"Don't know what that means. What do you do Daddy?"

"Well I'm sort of what your Papa's people would call a Thrain, we see to the good of the people."

"Really? Like the boy I met that talked funny?"

"Yes and his parents and friends and family." Thorin said. "All the dwarven classes we help to feel good and be happy if possible."

"Wow that's nice." Ris said. "Do you like my braids, Gera did em for me, Gera is the best." Ris said and Thorin smiled.

"Yes I like your braids very much, I've never seen finer." He said and the little girl beamed, before yawning.

"Sorry, I'm sleepy, the eagle flew me really high and really far."

"If your sleepy little cousin, then you should rest."

"Want to stay with Daddy." Ris said. "You can help the people still, just want my Daddy." The little girl's eyes closed then and she fell asleep. Thorin stared down at the sleeping child for a long time.

"The council is canceled for the day, I think that we would all be too distracted to continue."

"You know what this means Uncle?"

"Aye I do, in my madness I turned away my one and he hid my child from me for fifteen years. I will not give her up now though, no matter what Bilbo might try to do, she is ours."

"Aye that she is, but wouldn't it be better to at least talk to Bilbo when he gets here?"

"She might be half hobbit Fili, but can't you see her spirit is entirely dwarven, you know how hobbits are about outsiders and living with them, my little girl would always be one." Thorin said and he stood gently cradling the child to his chest, Ris sighed, her little face pressed against Thorin's tunic and one little hand clutching the fabric. Thorin smiled down at his sleeping daughter, before striding from the council hall and going to his rooms. He found that he could not stop the endless series of questions forming in his mind, as he held his daughter close to him, never wanting to let her go.

"Daddy." The little girl said in her sleep and Thorin's heart, which had been like stone for so long, opened once more as Ris called out for him in her sleep. Thorin settled in the rocking chair and pulled out a book reading it while the child slept, listening to her soft even breathing. She didn't snore like many dwarves did, but rather sounded like her Papa in sleep. He found that he couldn't focus on the words and so instead he stared down at his daughter, looking at her face as she slept. She looked so much like him, her cheeks were Bilbo's as were her feet, but the rest of her was all him. Anyone looking at them could see that they were made from the same block. He didn't know how long he just sat there looking at every inch of her, before she started to stir and eyes that were Durin blue stared up at him. She yawned and snuggled against his chest.

"Did you have a good nap treasure?" Thorin asked and the little girl nodded.

"Why aren't you at the long table?"

"Because its not every day that a dwarf learns he has a daughter, I couldn't be who my people need me to be today, because I'm too happy to have found you." Thorin said and little arms wrapped around him.

"I'm happy too Daddy!"

"Still did you tell Papa where you were going?"

"I left a note, he might not have wanted me to go and I wanted to see you."

"That wasn't being very nice to him and you went with a strange bird, because the bird said that they knew who I was?" Thorin asked and Ris nodded. "That was very dangerous, the bird might have been lying, don't ever go anywhere with a stranger again." He told her sternly and Ris started to cry. Thorin wrapped his arms around her and rocked with her in the chair. "Its not because I'm not glad you here, that I get to meet my daughter that I tell you such things, but rather because I'm scared for you. Little girls aren't supposed to travel all the way across middle Earth all by themselves."

"But I wanted to see you Daddy." Ris said and Thorin smiled.

"And once a Durin decides they want to do something, good luck changing their mind and you little princess are a Durin." Thorin said and ran his fingers through the child's hair until she calmed.

"Sire there's a man outside claiming to be Bilbo Baggins, he demands the return of his daughter." One of the guards said.

"Papa?" Ris asked hopefully.

"We shall see, you aren't going out until we can be sure this is actually Bilbo my precious gem." Thorin said and the little girl giggled.

"Okay Daddy, I'll be good while you go see Papa." The little girl said, looking around. "There's no toys here." She said with a small frown. "Do you have story books?"

"I do, but I don't think you would understand them. Didn't you bring something with you?" Thorin asked and the little girl frowned for a moment, before grinning.

"I brought my beading box, I can do that while you and Papa talk." She said and got out a box of beads, which were pebbles for the most part, or smooth stone.

"What lovely beads." Thorin said and the little girl grinned, before focusing on her work. Thorin left her to it and went to meet one irate hobbit.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Bilbo had woken for days previously from an eagle shrieking out his door. He'd gotten dressed and stared at the raven and the eagle in his garden. The raven had told him that his daughter was being taken to Erebor and that there was nothing he could do about it, but come along. Bilbo had no desire to go back to Erebor, but he had less for his daughter too. Ris was a sweet and sensitive child, if Thorin went mad again, she would be hurt, just as Bilbo had been. He was afraid for his daughter, a fear that had never gone away these past fifteen years that he'd raised his child. A child that was so different than any child he'd ever known, he'd tried to encourage that spirit she had to her, tried to understand her need to touch small stones and her love of rocks. He'd even tried to understand how she hated anything he tried to teach her, but found that he and his daughter were so different that he struggled most days to see things the way she saw them. It helped that his daughter was a lovely little girl and that he loved her with all of his heart. Still he knew how she didn't fit in at the Shire and that she always wanted to know more about her Daddy, once she had gotten older.

Bilbo had told her small details, the color of Thorin's hair, his eyes and how strong and brave he was. He had also told her about his adventures with the company. Still he couldn't bear to mention much about Thorin to her. He knew that he'd love that stubborn prideful dwarf until the end of his days, but sometimes love wasn't enough. Thorin had threatened his life once, who was to say he wouldn't do it again? Or that he wouldn't threaten the life of their daughter. Bilbo might have gone back on his own, but never with his daughter. It was one thing for Bilbo to risk being abused, quite another for him to risk Thorin hurting his child.

However things had been taken out of his hand and what few creatures in Middle Earth knew was that there were few things more deadly than a hobbit defending their children. Bilbo stood against a wall, his sword in his hand, his eyes full of fury as Thorin came into the room. "I'm taking my daughter back and you can't stop me." He said and Thorin stared at the hobbit in confusion, who was this creature? It was clearly Bilbo but not Bilbo. "She's not staying with you."

"She's my child as well, the only heir that I will ever have and she's more dwarf than hobbit. How could you understand her?"

"She's my child, I understand her fine, you lost the right to me or anything that's mine, the moment you threatened my life. Who's to say you won't harm her, oh you might not mean to, you might be mad with greed or whatever the Mordor your kind calls it. Still you can't undo harming her, possibly killing her once its done can you?" Bilbo demanded. "She's all I have in this world and I'll do anything to make sure she's safe."

"You really believe that of me?"

"Should I not? What cause have you given me to think otherwise?" Bilbo demanded his eyes wild and Thorin knew that this was not the same hobbit that he'd grown to love. The threat to his child had produced its own form of gold madness in Bilbo.

"I know that I was wrong, but I couldn't think Bilbo. All I knew was the gold, the need to collect more, the need to possess. I've not been back to the treasury since the Battle of Five Armies. Nearly loosing Fili and Kili made me realize that those we care about are more important than any object."

"Wish you would have realized that a little sooner." Bilbo said and a guard tried to step forward, quick as a rabbit Bilbo slashed with his blade. "No closer, I'm getting my daughter and we're getting out of here."

"Even if you wish that I keep my distance, Ris has other kin here, family that have done no wrong by you. Don't they deserve to know their own kin? Think of the lads Bilbo, this would crush them."

"You should have thought about that, before dangling me over the mountain. She's mine, my daughter and I won't have you around her, you can't be trusted not to go mad again." Bilbo said.

"I'll only see her when others are around, please Bilbo give her some time with her family. I promise that she will never be harmed here."

"You can't promise that, she's always getting scrapes and bruises. Every child gets hurt eventually and I don't trust you Thorin. I can't trust you after giving myself to you and then you threatening to throw me from a cliff. I can't let my daughter be around someone I don't trust with her. She's my child, my only child and she's all I have in this world. I can't loose her, I won't loose her and she's not safe here."

"She's safer here than anywhere in Middle Earth."

"She's not safe from you though is she?" Bilbo demanded.

"Thorin has not had an episode in all the time I have worked for him." One of the guards soothed. "Perhaps this discussion would be better served if it were not held at sword point."

"Buggar that, she's my daughter and I'm taking her home." Bilbo said and then stared at Fili who had just come out of his room. The young Prince had changed from the tween he'd been when Bilbo had known him to a strong proud young man.

"Bilbo its not just Thorin that wishes to know her, its me and Kili as well." Fili said. "Though how you got pregnant is beyond my comprehension."

"When a hobbit loves someone, we love them with all our heart, from that love and other things children can be born."

"I'm an adult Bilbo, I know what people do when they are alone in a bedroom, I knew that before going on the quest even." Fili said and Bilbo blushed.

"I'm just not comfortable discussing sex with you." Bilbo said and Fili laughed.

"Put away the sword and we'll have some ale together and this can be settled. Balin will mediate for both of you and I'll watch my little cousin. If Thorin makes any move towards you, you can skewer him with that pen knife of yours." He said and Bilbo hesitated before sheathing his sword and nodding.

"Very well, but I'm not having her alone with him."

"Lad your outnumbered a thousand to one, Ris is staying here and that is final. Of course we could always lock you in one of the royal quarters, if you try to take her from us, but I doubt that you would..." Balin trailed off as Bilbo disappeared. "He's disappeared, guards spread out, glancing blows only!"

"I've got a sword and I will use it, if you don't give me back my daughter!" Bilbo said before quickly moving away, Ris woke and sat up in Thorin's lap, blinking at the dwarves surrounding her in confusion.

"Daddy?" Ris asked.

"Ris, like we talked about." Bilbo said and Ris frowned.

"But its Daddy, Daddy will protect me from danger, I don't need to do that, cause Daddy is here." Ris said and Bilbo stared at his daughter.

"Daddy seem like he won't harm you, I thought he would never harm me, but he dangled me off the mountain Ris and I had you in my belly, your Daddy isn't going near you again."

"He didn't drop you, did you make Daddy angry, that's why I didn't meet him till now? Daddy is going to hurt me? But Daddies don't hurt their little girls."

"Never **My precious gem** , I would rather die than surrender to the madness again."

"Madness?" Ris asked slightly fearfully.

"Gold madness, dwarves love gold, but sometimes it does not love us."

"Really?" Ris asked and frowned. "Is that why Papa yelled at me, when I played with Grandma's pretty jewelry. I liked the way the stone talked, can you talk to stones Daddy?"

"Stone speech little one? That is not something I can do and it's rare for dwarves to have that ability. Stone speakers have no gift with metal, but can sense gems through rock and are the best crafters of jewelry. They are highly prized for their ability to find stone anywhere." Thorin said and handed Ris a black stone he was wearing.

"Its happy to be worn again, it says it missed being worn." Ris said and smiled. "Do you have more?"

"I'll show you some more later, once you practice you will be able to hear the music stone makes." Thorin said and Bilbo glared at Thorin.

"You will do nothing of the sort, she won't fall to the madness, she's my little girl and I refuse to let that happen to her."

"She's my child as well Bilbo and what if someone were to deny you your gardens, or say that you may never go outside again? To the stone blessed, being away from rock makes you feel half alive."

"I don't care, she needs to be safe, she won't be safe if you give her gems and stones and fill her head about treasure. Nothing good ever came of gold, or gems and I won't allow her to be..."

"To be what Bilbo?" Thorin demanded.

"To be like you! To loose herself completely to the stone, to not determine friend from foe! To hurt the ones she loves! I won't let my baby turn out like you!" Bilbo said and faced Thorin squarely. Ris stared wide-eyed at her parents, before her eyes filled with tears and she ran away. "Come back Rose!" Bilbo demanded but the little girl was already gone, fight forgotten, Bilbo chased after his child, but she had vanished.

Rose ran far away, she hated when people yelled at each other, she felt the stone under her feet like a giant's heart beat. It was leading her somewhere but she didn't know where. She found herself in a large market and stared at all the people in it. She smiled as she was pulled towards a table with many people around her age. She sat down and grinned at them, as they stared at her and started speaking in that strange language again.

"Don't understand." Ris said and they appeared puzzled by her speech, Rose put a hand up to her ear and shook her head and they nodded, she grinned broadly as a little girl handed her a bit of chain and showed her how to add links and beads to it. An older dwarf came to the table and stared down at Ris, who smiled up at him and showed him her chain, she liked the way the stones she was stringing sounded together. He asked her a question in the weird language and Ris frowned. "What you saying?" She said and put a hand up to her ear and shook her head.

"What are you doing here little one, you should be with your guards, not at common lessons."

"Daddy and Papa were fighting, I hate yelling so I just followed the mountain." Ris said.

"You did what?"

"The mountain likes me, it wanted me to go here." Ris said. "The mountain wouldn't hurt me, I'm safe in the mountain."

"You aren't though little one, for all its beauty Erebor is just a mountain and it cannot protect you the way your guards would."

"But why would anyone hurt me? I'm just a little girl."

"And Thorin's heir, it is dangerous for the crown princess to walk through the mountain unescorted."

"That's stupid, I'd rather stay here and play, no one around Daddy is my age and I never had friends before and I'd like em."

"Oh child, you are rather a creature of two worlds aren't you."

"I'm not a creature!" Ris said angrily her eyes glinting fiercely and the old dwarf smiled.

"I suppose not, but you are neither hobbit, nor dwarf."

"I wish I was a dwarf, if I was a dwarf, then Papa would be a dwarf and he wouldn't hate stone. Stone is nice, it makes me happy, but Papa and Daddy keep fighting and I hate it! I want Papa and Daddy to love each other, why don't they?"

"Dwarves only love once, once in love with someone, we never fall out of it. The other races on the other hand are more free with their affections. Do you understand child?" The dwarf asked and Ris frowned and nodded.

"Yes I think so, please can I play some more?"

"Of course, but just until the guard comes alright?"

"Alright." Ris replied. "Can you teach me some funny language?"

"You mean khudzul?"

"That's what Daddy called it earlier, but people keep speaking it to me and I don't understand them."

"Alright **Children listen to me now, I'm about to give you a lesson in common."**

"What you say?"

"Just told them to listen, the word for listen in khudzul is **listening.** Listen, **listen** now you try."

" **Listen."** Ris said and smiled when the older dwarf nodded and spoke a sentence in khudzul. Then the other children repeated the word in common and Ris frowned. " **Neow ou tri."** She said and the old dwarf stared at her before repeating the sentence, this time Ris was able to speak it.

"You have a ear for languages little one."

"Thanks, Papa taught me common and sindrian its fun to talk in sindrian with Papa then no one knows what we are saying. How do you say thank you in Khudzul."

" **Thank you,** the teacher paused. **In common thank you is** Thank you."

" **Thank you."** Ris said after considering for a moment and smiled at the teacher. "What about please?"

" **Please, to say please in common it's** please."

It took Ris a while to say the word correctly and she beamed when she got it. "How do you say Daddy?"

" **Adad, or ada, the word for Daddy in common is** Daddy."

"How do you say, how do you say?" Ris asked and the lesson continued in this manner, until a frantic Thorin came barreling in with his guards. " **Adad!"** Ris said and hugged him.

"Don't wander off alone Ris, I swear you will turn my hair white." Thorin said and Ris giggled.

"That's what Papa always says, I like it here, can I stay a bit longer, look what I **made!** "She said and handed Thorin the necklace. " **Its for the nice lady.** " She grinned up at Thorin's astonished face and hugged him. " **Love you Adad."**

 **"** And I you, my little stone flower." Thorin said and Ris frowned.

"Not a flower." She said and Thorin laughed running his hand through his daughter's hair. Ris raised her arms and Thorin picked her up.

"Ris you can't wander around Erebor without your guards."

"Why?"

"Because its dangerous and Daddy said so."

"That's not a reason, Papa never told me why either. He just told me to do stuff, with no telling why I got to do it." Ris said.

"Sometimes little girls need to just listen to their parents." Thorin said and Ris glared at him.

"That's no reason, that's just sayin that big people are always right and they are wrong a lot." Ris said and Thorin stared at his angry daughter and couldn't keep back the smile.

"Oh lass, whatever are we to do with you?"

"I'm hungry, can we eat? Then you can play with me." She said and Thorin laughed.

"Of course little one, would you like to try dwarven food, its not like you are used to."

"Okay." Ris said and Thorin smiled, before putting Ris on his shoulders. They walked together to a stall and Thorin bought a leg of mutton, handing it to Ris who took a bite of it and gasped, before tearing off another and another. Thorin chuckled and reached behind him ruffling his daughter's hair. "This is good Daddy what is it?"

"Curried mutton leg, lets get you some alhalar to go with it."

"What's that?"

"It doesn't translate into common, but alhalar is a yogurt soup that is served cold."

"Okay." Ris said and they walked together to another stand and Thorin handed her a cup this time with a spoon. She took a bite and frowned. "It tastes good, but odd, why is fennel in yogurt?" She asked Thorin and Thorin laughed.

"Because that's part of a good alhalar, it cools your tongue after the spice of what your eating."

"Oh, I liked the spicy stuff better." Ris said and Thorin smiled.

"Would you like to see the smithy?" He asked and Ris nodded, before realizing she was on her Daddy's back.

"Yes please Daddy, Papa wouldn't let me go, because I'm so little." Ris said and Thorin nodded.

"As long as you stay on my shoulders and don't touch anything you should be fine." He said and smiled at his child, who was looking all around her excitedly. Soon they were at the smithy and Ris stared at the dwarves making weapons and other metal items.

"Hello Princess." The dwarves said and Ris grinned and waved to them. A young man walked up to her and handed her some wire.

"I have wire already." Ris said.

"One can't have too much wire, thank you lad." Thorin said and Ris nodded.

"Thank you." She echoed her father and continued to watch the forges. "How long before I can try doing that?" She asked and Thorin laughed.

"A while yet my dear, when you can stand with the table at chest height, you can forge."

"But I might never be that tall, Papa isn't." Ris said.

"Your Papa is that tall and one day you will be taller than him."

"Will I be taller than you?" Ris asked and Thorin laughed.

"Perhaps my **little gem** , perhaps."

"I'm not little, I'm fourteen." Ris said and Thorin smiled.

"You lass are definitely a Durin, your cousins complained in much the same way, when they were young. So how much were you able to learn in a day?"

"The teacher was really good I learned a lot, Papa says that I am too smart for my own good and I really like learning languages and the stories Papa tells about elves." Ris said and Thorin spluttered.

"You like elves?"

"Never met one, but I like their stories, my favorite is about the silly gem wars. Its funny how stupid people can be over gems and gold. I like them but I like having friends more and I like it when no one is hurt."

"You are a very wise lass."

"Thanks Daddy, where can we go now, I wanna see everything!" She said and nearly fell over, before righting herself. Thorin walked away from the smithy and to the book section the Market.

"Don't go very far, alright my **gem?"** Thorin asked and Ris nodded , looking at the books excitedly. Soon she had a small stack of books for children and Thorin stared at the titles in confusion. "Can you read this?"

"Yes, Papa taught me to read Sidrian and common and I'm learning Quenya too. Can I learn some more khudle too?"

"Khudzul and of course you can." Thorin said and was rewarded with a heart-melting smile. He picked out several children's books in Khudzul and paid for the stack. They then walked to the toy market. "You can pick any three things."

"Thanks Daddy." Ris said and looked around the toy market. She found some practice armor and a sword, as well as a doll that looked like her. "Daddy I got what I want."

"Alright show me sweetheart." Thorin said and laughed when he saw that his daughter wanted practice armor.

"What's so funny Daddy?"

"Its just that you are a lot like your Auntie Dis when she was young." Thorin said and paid for two practice swords, the armor and the doll.

"Thanks Daddy." Ris said.

"Now we need to get you some clothes." Thorin said and Ris nodded, they walked to the clothing market and Ris found a shirt with a dragon on it. "Why do you want that?"

"Papa wouldn't tell me much about you, but you were together because there was a dragon right? I like dragons because with no dragon I wouldn't be born." Ris said and Thorin frowned.

"Is it alright if I don't like dragons?"

"Uh huh." Ris said and smiled up at her Daddy, before finding some shirts with rocks in them. She looked for a shirt that she liked the sound the rocks made and pulled out one that was a yellow and green. She also got some pants and looked at her Daddy. "Can I have these please Daddy, I'll only wear them at home and then I can wear my dresses the rest of the time."

"You want some pants?" Thorin asked before laughing. "You really are like Dis." He said and stroked the top of her head. "Of course little one you can have some pants and you can even wear them instead of dresses if you like."

"Really?"

"Yes really." Thorin said and found his arms full of little girl, as she hugged and kissed him.

"Thank you Daddy!" Ris said and together they picked out several pants and skirts, as well as shirts to go with them. They then walked to where people were selling gems and Ris covered her ears before falling to the ground. "Make it stop, its too loud!" She cried and Thorin scooped her up in his arms and took her away from the gem market.

"Is that better little one?" He asked and Ris nodded.

"It hurt my head to go there, can we go somewhere else?"

"How about we get some stew and then we can go home, unless there is somewhere else you would like to go?"

"No want Papa." Ris said and Thorin nodded, they walked to a stall selling stew, as Bilbo came running through the market and glared at Thorin.

"You could have told me you found her."

"I sent messengers, come join us, we were just about to have some stew."

"Its really yummy Papa." Ris said and held up a bite. "Want some?" She asked and Bilbo took a bite, his face turned red and he frantically gulped at water, as Ris laughed continuing to eat the stew.

"How can you stomach that, I think it burned a hole in my tongue." Bilbo said finally coming up for air.

"Its yummy!" Ris said and took another bite. "Want some more?"

"Who in their right mind would want more of that lava?" Bilbo said and Ris frowned. "I'm sorry sweetheart, Papa doesn't like extremely spicy things." Bilbo said and Ris nodded.

"More for me then, you can have the funny tasting yogurt." Ris said and Thorin laughed, as Bilbo looked at them in confusion.

"That might actually not be a bad idea, **do you have any** alhalar, **I'm afraid that Bilbo doesn't care much for spice."** The stall keeper placed a bowl of yogurt in front of Bilbo.

"Thank you." Bilbo said and the stall keeper looked confused.

"No Papa say **Thank you."**

 **"Thank you,** so my pretty flower, has daddy been teaching you some Khudzul?" Bilbo asked and Ris nodded.

"This teacher was teaching me too, but then Daddy found me and I had to go with him and the guards. I don't like the guards, but it was nice to play with the other kids."

"She'll pick it up in no time, I know you are determined to go back to the Shire, but I'll have to insist that a guard squadron accompany you to protect Ris."

"Daddy said that bad people might try to hurt me, but I'm a little girl and you said that no one should ever try to hurt me. Why do people keep trying Papa, no one has called me names, but Daddy thinks they will." Ris said and Bilbo stared at his daughter and then at Thorin.

"Do you think that people will call her names?" Bilbo asked and Thorin nodded.

"Now that people know of her, I would feel more comfortable if she was guarded, until she learns to defend herself."

"Daddy got me a practice sword and armor and a new doll, the doll looks like me!" Ris said and Bilbo smiled.

"That's great Ris , after we eat, maybe you could show me your new dolly." Bilbo said and Ris nodded enthusiastically.

"Uh huh and Daddy said I don't have to wear dresses."

"You will back in the shire though, alright."

"Why they hate me in the Shire anyway, I want to stay here with Daddy and my family, please Papa." She looked at him using the round-eyed stare shamelessly.

"We are going to stay for two weeks and then we are going back to the Shire."

"I don't want to, if you try to make me, I'll hide in the mountain until you leave and you will never ever see me again." Ris said and Bilbo stared at his daughter in shock.

"Ris that was a very mean thing to say, when we get home, you will sit in the corner for ten minutes."

"No I won't, right Daddy?"

"No little one, Bilbo is right in this, I told you how dangerous it is to go into the mountain by yourself." Ris started to scream and Bilbo sighed, before scooping his daughter into his arms and rocking her back and forth as she thrashed in them.

"Its alright Rissy, its just ten minutes." Bilbo said as she continued to have a fit, he held her until she grew tired and buried her face into Bilbo's tunic. "Is the dragon gone?" Bilbo asked and Ris nodded. "Good now lets go back to where we're staying okay?" He asked and Ris nodded again, one hand clutching at his tunic. Bilbo hefted the little girl, until she was seated firmly in his arms. A moment later she started to snore softly. Bilbo smiled down at the child, before turning to Thorin. "She's a sound sleeper, I don't think I can carry her all the way back up the mountain though, could you hold her?"

Thorin stared at Bilbo in awe, before taking the sleeping child from Bilbo's arms and settling her against his chest. She sighed and cuddled against him, Thorin smiled softly and held her carefully in his arms. Thorin paid for the meal and they walked back to the royal quarters together. Thorin gently set Ris down on the bed and covered her with the blankets, before settling the doll in her arms. She sighed softly and hugged the doll to her. "Sleep well **my precious gem**." He then left the room and turned to Bilbo as he closed the door.

"What time is it anyway?" Bilbo asked.

"Its half past nine at night, why?"

"No wonder she had a temper tantrum, I try to get her to sleep by eight, otherwise she well you saw."

"I was sort of surprised, she's such a sweet lass."

"Until she's sleep deprived and you threaten her with time out, then I think she's part phantom." Bilbo said and Thorin laughed.

"No just a stubborn headed willful lass, dwarves admittedly are rather hard headed." Thorin said and Bilbo laughed.

"By the mother did you just make a joke?"

"I can joke Bilbo." Thorin said and Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "Actually before the fall, I was considered to be the funny one in my family, my brother and I were fond of playing jokes on everyone. We were actually a lot like Fili and Kili, until the dragon came, then we both had to try to grow up rather quickly. Unfortunately Frerin never got the chance to become a man, his death changed me, made me grow up and I don't think I joked for a long time afterward. Except perhaps with the lads, they have a way about them."

"That they do, Ris loves hearing about how they frightened me with the wargs."

"She said you didn't tell her much about me."

"I told her a bit, just the story of our adventures really, but she didn't know which of the company was her father and I didn't tell her about the stone. I just told her that I decided to go to the shire after the war was over and that I was carrying something very special with me, when I went."

"It makes me feel like shale, to think of you crossing half of middle earth, while you were with child."

"We made it just fine Thorin, though the pregnancy was longer than I expected. Do you mind if I retire early tonight?"

"Not at all and I'll see that you will be given food that isn't as heavily spiced in the future."

"Thank you." Bilbo said and yawned, before going into the room next to Ris' and closing the door. He shrugged out of his tunic and pants, leaving on his under breeches and falling into bed. He fell asleep quickly afterwards.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

 _Everyone was laughing at her. "You will never be anything, you can't do anything right. You don't belong anywhere do you, why don't you just die? You don't deserve to live, you aren't of any race, and you can't even say our language." Ris stared at her Daddy in horror._

 _"Daddy?" She asked her eyes filling with tears._

 _"You aren't a proper hobbit either, you can't remember the names of the flowers and your cooking is a disaster, its a wonder I even try." Bilbo said and turned away. "have fun pretending to be a dwarf, because that's all you will ever be able to do, pretend. Everyone knows it too and we laugh at you." Bilbo turned away and so did Thorin, together they left her alone._

 _"Papa, Daddy please comes back! PAPA!_ DADDY!" Ris sat up gasping for breath, she ran out of the room crying.

"What's wrong Princess?" One of the guards asked.

"Where's my Papa, where's my Daddy. I want my Papa I want my Daddy." Ris said and the guard stared at the child.

"Your Papa's rooms are to the left and your Daddy's rooms are down the hall, I'll go with you if you want to go see your Daddy, okay? I'll keep the monsters away with my axe."

"Your axe can do that?" Ris asked and the guard nodded.

"Its a special monster slaying axe, it also kills bad guys, or people that annoy me."

"Don't scare her more than she already is." Another guard said and the first one frowned, Ris grabbed onto the guard's hand and walked with him to her Daddy's room. Daddy was strong and he'd stop the nightmares, no one could hurt her, because he'd glower at them and scare them off. The guard opened the door and Ris went inside. She heard her Daddy snoring loudly and she giggled, before cuddling up against him. Thorin snorted and opened his eyes, staring down at his daughter.

"What's wrong Lass?"

"I had a scary dream and I wanted to see you." Ris said and Thorin smiled.

"Well I'm here lass, do you want to talk about it?" He asked and Ris shook her head.

"Just hold me and sing the song."

"Misty Mountains?"

"Yes Daddy!" Ris said and Thorin smiled, before he started to sing, Bilbo came in part way through and Ris stared at him a moment, before smiling at him.

"One of the guards told me you had a nightmare, you wanted to see both of us, didn't you?" Bilbo asked and Ris nodded.

"The guard said he would chase away the monsters and bad people, so I went to see Daddy. You tell good stories and are warm and safe, but Daddy would stop bad things from getting to me when you can't."

"So will the guards sweetheart, not just me but the guards too and you know Papa would protect you, if someone threatened you."

"But Papa couldn't protect me, not in the Shire, not now either. He's not strong like you Daddy, I want to be strong like you when I grow up, that way no one will ever hurt me."

"That is a worthy goal, but there are many kinds of strength. Your Papa is strong in his own way, few people have the courage to fight for others, and in the way your Papa does. Few people care as much about others as much as your Papa does as well. I have my skill with axe and sword, as well as my physical strength, but physical strength isn't everything. Promise me that when you get big and become the warrior you wish to be, that you will use that strength wisely."

"I will Adad, song now?" Ris asked sleepily. "And snuggles?" She reached her hands towards Bilbo and Bilbo sighed, he wasn't comfortable lying next to Thorin, but Ris could make him do things most people would be unable to. One look at Thorin's blue eyes and her smile and he was putty in her hands. He realized full well that he sometimes let his daughter get away with murder, because she was just too cute. He was glad that at least some people in Erebor saw her for the precious little girl she was, rather than only looking at her heritage. He smiled and felt his eyes drifting closed as Thorin sang to their daughter. He didn't mean to fall asleep in Thorin's bed, but he was snoring by the end of the song.

Thorin stared at his sleeping child and his one and silently thanked Mahuel for such a gift. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, or if Bilbo would ever lie in his bed again after that night, but he knew that he had been given a priceless treasure for at least a small while. He couldn't resist watching as they slept, Bilbo's hands curled around their daughter, as they breathed slowly and deeply together. He smiled softly and gently removed a strand of hair from Bilbo's eyes, before falling asleep himself.

Ris woke the next morning, between both her parents and smiled sleepily. She gently moved out of her Papa's arms and scooted out of the small space between their bodies. Papa sighed and cuddled against Daddy and she smiled softly, before going quietly through the door. She put a finger to her mouth and the guards smiled, as they closed the door quietly behind her. "Now what do you want Princess.

"I'm hungry, what time is it?"

"Its six in the morning, why don't you try going back to sleep?"

"No I'm not sleepy, is anyone else up?"

"I saw Lady Gera a moment ago, she could help you get ready for the day, if you like?" The guard asked and Ris nodded.

"I can bathe myself, but I need help with my hair." She said and walked to her rooms, she got the tub ready and got into it. She washed her body first and then worked on her hair gently. She winced at the snarls, before putting in the conditioner and letting it soak for a while. She then rinsed and put on some pants and a shirt. Gera was sitting on a chair and Ris grinned at her.

"Hi Gera, can you help me with my hair?"

"Of course and don't you look lovely, I like the topaz shirt you are wearing, it goes good with those green pants."

"Thanks Gera." Ris said and smiled at Gera, before sitting down in front of her. Gera put her hair back into a braid and Ris smiled. "I'm hungry did you eat already?"

"No, I was just about to, when the guard said you needed some help getting ready." Gera said and Ris grinned.

"You do hair really good, normally Papa helps with my hair, but he's sleepy today and so is Daddy."

"Really now?"

"I had a bad dream last night, I don't remember it now but it was really scary, I wanted Papa and Daddy so I went to Daddy's rooms and Papa came too and we all cuddled in Daddy's bed."

"Really, did you like cuddling with Papa and Daddy?" Gera asked and Ris nodded.

"Uh huh and Daddy sang the mountain song to me, Daddy sings really good." Ris said and Gera smiled. "I woke up before Papa and Daddy and I didn't wanna wake em up, cause Papa says its not nice to wake him up when I get up, cause I always wake up really early." Ris said and took Gera's hand. "Is anyone else up?"

"Not when I came down." Gera said and smiled at the little girl. "Now what do you want to do after we break our fast?"

"Can you teach me more words in Khudzul, they sound nice and I want to know what people are sayin."

"I think I can manage that." Gera said and Ris grinned, they walked to the dining hall and sat down at the table together. Gera poured her some hot chocolate and served her some eggs, assuage and toast. "Do you want spicy or sweet jam?"

"Spicy!" Ris said and Gera spread the jam on the toast. Ris waited for Gera to finish serving herself before digging into the food. She heard something that sounded slightly like a herd of elephants coming downstairs and looked wide eyed at Gera.

"That would be the boys, I forgot they had early practice today, you can meet my son, he was at the practice yard during lunch yesterday." Gera said and Ris stared at her cousins as they came into the hall laughing. All three had on practice armor and they smiled at Ris. Fili and Kili sat down at her right and her left.

"Morning little cousin, did you sleep well?"

"After I cuddled with Daddy and Papa I did, can I go with you to the practice yard?" Ris said and both brothers smiled down at her.

"As long as you keep your distance, when we're fighting and get ready in time for us to go, we might see about getting you a lesson even, depending on how busy Dwalin is today."

"Really!" Ris asked and both brothers laughed.

"Oh you will be a proper warrior lass, once your taller than my codpiece." Gimli said and Gera glared at her son.

"What's a cod piece?" Ris asked innocently and Fili spat out a bite of egg.

"Since you be saying that to the child, you will be answering her question Gimli Glionson!" Gera said and Gimli turned red in the face.

"Its to protect a man's parts, when he's fighting. When a man is kicked in his naughty place it can really hurt."

"So if a bad man tries to get me, I should kick em there?" Ris asked and missed the wince of the three males.

"Yes, but only if he's a bad man, not in practice and not when you are just angry at your relatives. If someone attacks you, you kick him really hard, scream and run away from them, you got that Princess."

"Uh huh." Ris said and returned to eating her breakfast. She finished her plate and ran back to her room, putting on the armor Thorin had gotten her the day before and grabbing her practice sword. She then grabbed Fili's hand and he smiled down at her.

"Looks like your Daddy forgot to get you a belt for your sword, we can stop by the toy stalls and get you one, before we go to the practice yard."

"K Uncle Fili, can I call you Uncle too Gimli?"

"I'd be very pleased if you did Ris." Gimli said and smiled at Ris, they walked together to the practice yard and Ris stared wide-eyed at the dwarves fighting. She saw a few kids her age and headed over to them.

"No Princess, you will be having your own lesson, they've been learning fighting styles for a few years now." The instructor said and Ris nodded. "Can I watch, until someone teaches me?"

"Sure, but don't you want to watch the older ones fight, your cousins are taking a turn." The instructor said and Ris stared at Fili and Gimli as they brought their weapons up. She was so transfixed by the display that she hardly noticed when someone was calling her name, someone touched her shoulder and she shrieked, before elbowing them in the groin and running away.

"Lass its alright, it was only Dwalin coming to get you." Fili said through laughing. "But you did very good, very good indeed."

"What have you been teaching the child?" Dwalin demanded from behind her, she turned around and saw the dwarf doubled over.

"That if someone attacks me , I should hit them in the codpiece." Ris replied and several adults chuckled.

"Not when someone is trying to get your attention though lass." Dwalin said and Ris nodded, as Dwalin slowly stood. "Now lets see about some foot work, hold that sword out like this, now your feet should go like this and this."

"Its heavy when I hold it with one hand." Ris said.

"That's normal, now to attack you push off with your right leg and advance with your left, like this." He demonstrated and Ris copied him. "Very good, now keep your eyes on your attacker." He said and she advanced across the field. "Now this is a retreat, like the advance only you move first with the forward leg and then with the backward one." He said and Ris again backed up across the field. "Now this is a lunge, you move your forward leg all the way forward, while using your back leg to steady yourself, and then when you are done with the lunge, you move your leg back again, can you do that?" He asked and Ris nodded, lunging forward and going back to the normal stance. "Very good, the stance you are in now is called the ready position, now I'm going to call out some moves, just keep your sword steady for now." He said and Ris nodded. "Forward, back, lunge forward, back, back, forward, forward, lunge forward, lunge forward, back." He said and Ris copied the movements. "Very good, now lets work with your wrist, I want you to flick your wrist and see how the sword moves." He said and Ris nodded, flicking her wrist and grinning when she saw the sword move. "Good that's called a beat a lot of sword is in the wrist and arms and depends upon blocking and attacking. Now here's a longer wrist movement." He continued to instruct her, until Ris' stomach rumbled and she looked up from her lesson. She stared at the amount of people that had gathered. "Ignore the crowd and concentrate on me, I'm the only thing that's important right now. Now I'm going to attack you and I want you to defend yourself and try to hit me back. No aiming for the face, or my codpiece though alright?"

"Alright." Ris said and smiled Dwalin. He attacked her and Ris lunged back, steadied herself and lunged forward, aiming for the open spot, as Dwalin blocked it, she then retreated and blocked as he tried to hit her, and left his leg open, she tried to hit it, but he knocked it aside and accidentally knocked the sword out of her hand. "Hold!" Ris said.

"There's no hold in battle." Dwalin said and Ris rolled picking up her sword and jumping to her feet, laughing as she did so. She then attacked Dwalin and got a hit on the astonished dwarf. "I didn't teach you that."

"Papa did, in dancing." Ris said and grinned, before attacking again, this time keeping a firm grip on her blade.

"You keep leaving openings." Dwalin said. "Remember to point your body sideways girl, sideways."

"Okay Uncle Dwalin." Ris said and smiled up at him, before swinging her sword around and clipping him on the knee.

"Blast you child, your just like your father, too talented by half. Now why don't you have a practice match with one of Bardur's class and leave an old man to lick his wounds."

"You aren't old Uncle Dwalin." Ris said and hugged him. "Thank you for the lesson."

"Aw lass, your welcome."

"Valron should be a good match for you."

" **I'm not that bad**." Valron protested."

" **You are so that bad.** " Another boy said and Ris glared at him.

"I'll be fighting him!" She said pointing at the boy. "He's mean!"

"Lass he's above your skill set."

"I don't care, I don't like mean people." Ris said and Dwalin chuckled.

"Well then have at, but if he gets a few hits on you, stay brave okay?" Dwalin asked and Ris nodded, she faced off against the boy and saluted him, as he did the same. She then attacked, he blocked her and tried to attack her, but she lunged aside, before lunging back and scoring a hit. She then lunged back again before he could hit her and smiled at him. He glared at her and attacked twice as hard as before, she defended his blows, except for one that got passed her and struck her side, she lunged backward, before lunging forward quickly he didn't raise his guard in time, so she managed to score two hits, before darting away. He said something in Khudzul that Ris didn't like the tone of.

" **Come at me!"** She said and he stared at her and she cocked her head, before raising her arms and quickly lowering them. He bellowed and struck hard ad and fast, trying to overpower her with his blows and a few got in, but he also left himself wide open. Quick as a snake, she darted through his legs and to his backside, hitting him cleanly before he whirled around. "Why don't you leave that boy alone and pick on someone who can fight like you can?" She demanded and he stared at her as she realized that the boy had no idea of what she was saying. She glared at him and through her shoulders back defiantly.

"That's enough for now children, you both fought well." Dwalin said and then said the same phrase in Khudzul

"This isn't settled." Ris said.

"Yes it is Ris, now when I say a match is over, its over." Dwalin said and Ris glared at him. "you have both wounded the enemy."

"Is he okay?"

"I wager he'll be feeling this battle tomorrow, then again so will you." Dwalin said and Ris smiled at Dwalin

"What did he say?"

"He said you were unnaturally quick."

"Papa says I'm just as fast as he is." Ris said proudly.

"Now what did I tell you about bragging Ris?" Bilbo asked.

"Papa! Did you see?"

"I saw some of it, but Thorin and I were watching you fight, you did very er that is to say, you did very well."

"Thanks Papa!" Ris said and launched herself at Thorin. "Did you see Daddy?"

"You were magnificent, was it really only your first time sword fighting?" Thorin asked and Ris laughed.

"Silly Papa, of course it was, hobbits wouldn't do anything as fun as sword fighting."

"Ris that wasn't very nice, I know you prefer dwarven aspects of your heritage, but there are plenty of things that are fun that hobbits do." Bilbo said and Ris frowned.

"What you think is fun, I think is boring, except for dancing."

"Bilbo is right, that's not very nice and you need to learn about both aspects of your heritage."

"So I still have to study flowers and gardening and cooking and cleaning and manners and sewing and knitting and embroidery?"

"Heavens what have you been teaching her?"

"The normal things young hobbit lasses learn, if they pay attention to their parents."

"But its boring, can't I learn smithing, or sword fighting, or gem laying or anything other than gardening."

"You need to know how to grow your own food one day."

"Why?"

"Because I'll be too old to work in the garden and if you know how, even if the main stores fail, we won't starve in winter."

"That's a stupid reason, that's a really long time for now and gardening is really boring."

"Not if you have the proper attitude, it can be really fun if you let it be."

"Like watching paint dry is fun?" Ris asked and Thorin chuckled.

"Little one cant you be nice to Papa?"

"Not if he keeps making me garden, I hate it and I hate the Shire and I'm never ever going back there. If you try to make me, I'll just run away again and you'll never ever find me!" Ris said and ran away from the crowd. She heard a lot of people shout for her, but she didn't care, no one would force her to be something she wasn't not even Papa. Maybe if her Daddy didn't understand the elves would. She ran down several corridors and tunnels, until she found her way out of the kingdom. She then continued to run, but more sneakily then before. It took her the rest of the day, before she fell asleep in a pile of hay exhausted and hungry.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

 **AN bold italic script is sindrian, the language of the elves**

When Ris awoke it was still dark out and a cow mooing startled her awake. She left the hay and continued walking to the forest. She passed the old Laketown, around midday and continued on. She reached Mirkwood forest finally and walked several paths, being careful to stay on them, but not sure which ones she should stay on.

She heard elfish singing and cried out waving her hands, a young elven warrior stared at her and she smiled at him. " ** _Can you take me to your king, I seek asylum._** "

" _ **Why would someone as young as you seek asylum, for that matter how is it that a young dwarf even know the tongue**?_ "

"Papa taught me." Ris replied. " _ **Papa likes Sindrian and other things that are boring**."_

 _" **I see and you are running away because you do not like what your Papa does?** "_

"How you know that?"

"Because child, you just told me, now lets get you to the elven halls and you can have a warm meal, then we will discuss what will happen next." The elf said and Ris smiled. "I am Legolas and the heir to Mirkwood, all you see will one day be mine."

"Its a nice forest." Ris said and Legolas laughed.

"Apparently your Papa has taught you diplomacy, I know that it's not a nice forest, but it is my home. Do you wish for me to carry you little one?" He asked and Ris nodded, she sat on his shoulders as Legolas, took several winding paths before coming to a castle. He set Ris down and Ris walked beside him, to what appeared to be a throne room.

" ** _Legolas, why are you bringing me a child, when I sent you out for herbs?_** " Thrainduil demanded and Ris frowned.

" ** _Father, if the girl was a little less dirty, does she not remind you of someone we know? In any event Mirkwood is no place for a child._** "

"I don't care who the girl is, she doesn't belong here."

"But Papa will force me to go back to the Shire, if I can't stay." Ris said. "Please don't make me go back!"

"Who's your Papa little one?" Legolas asked. "And who's your mama?"

"I don't have a Mama, but I have a Daddy, he's the bestest daddy ever and he's a dwarf."

"I see and your Papa wouldn't be Bilbo Baggins, would he?" Thrainduil asked and Ris nodded. "I see, very well I will grant you asylum, until we reunite you with your parents, is that fair?"

"No then you will give me back to them and I'll still have to go back to the shire."

"The matter of where you will be living is a family affair child, I can't get involved or else I'll make two kingdoms angry at me, one of which is my immediate neighbor, can't you understand what you are asking. If I refuse to let your Daddy see you, then your Daddy will insist that his king attack us, we will retaliate and on it goes, until someone is badly hurt and you don't want people to be hurt do you?"

"My Daddy is the king, I don't want to go to the Shire." Ris whined.

"Sometimes we give into what we want, for the greater good. I doubt in any event that your Papa will force you to go now, as you braved a very scary forest to escape such a plan." Thrainduil said and Ris frowned.

"Are you conda-conda, being mean cause I'm little?" Ris asked she knew that people said condasending, sometimes but it was a very big word and it was hard for her to say.

"Of course not, even grown elven warriors find the forest to be scary, don't they Legolas?" Thrainduil asked and Legolas nodded. "Now you will be housed in my quarters and Legolas will keep you company, until your parents arrive." Thrainduil said and Ris nodded, she walked with Legolas to a nicely appointed table and was given some sort of warm porridge to eat. It tasted of honey and raisins and was delicious.

"Elven food may be a bit different than what you are used to Lady Ris, now do you need help washing, or can you do it yourself?"

"Myself, but help with hair?"

"I'm not going to touch your hair, that's only something close family can do."

"But its knotted and it pulls bad when I try to brush it."

"Then don't pull it."

"Please Legolas?" Ris asked and Legolas stared at the round-eyed child and cursed in quenya.

"Girl you are entirely too cute for your own good." Legolas said and Ris laughed, before running into the bathing quarters and getting into the bath. She washed herself and then put on the shirt Legolas handed her, his eyes adverted. She changed into it and it made quite a good dress. She took the belt from her clothing and looked to Legolas.

"Tie please?" She asked and Legolas tied the tunic around her chest, before letting the rope slide down to her waist. "Thank you Agoas." She said and gave the elf a hug, he stiffened, before patting her back gently.

"No trouble at all lass, all I know are elfish braids will one of those do?"

"As long as you don't pull." Ris said and sat down beside a chair, Legolas gently brushed her hair, and gently plaited it into a series of complicated braids. Ris grinned when she saw her hair in the mirror and hugged Legolas again. "Are you as good at the bow as the books say, do you really only eat green food? Do you sleep here or in trees?"

"Child, go more slowly please, I have no hope of answering all your questions about me and my kindred if you talk that quickly." He said and smiled at Ris. "I sleep in the castle, but when I'm away patrolling father's lands, I sleep in the trees. I'm good at the bow personally, but not all my kindred are. We eat more than green food, though some elves are vegetarian, which means they take only of the earth and neither from bird nor beast. I enjoy mutton as much as any of the other races, but before we eat of the flesh of an animal, we first thank the Valar and then the animal for giving its life. Some elves believe wood elves to be more barbaric, do to our fondness for meat. Now how did such a curious creature as yourself come to be?"

"When a male hobbit loves another male very much, Yavannah allows for the seed to take root, Papa said that I had to wait until I was older to know more though. I hate having to wait until I'm older." Ris said and Legolas laughed. "Everyone grows faster than I do at the Shire and it's not fair."

"I know how that can feel little one, elven children are not considered adults, until they are eighty.

"I'd be old by then."

"I am uncertain of that, as you do not look your years. Still you will only live three hundred more years, the other races seem to live such quick lives and sometimes I envy them for it. Save my being killed in combat, I cannot die"

"How old are you Legolas?"

"I am one hundred and twenty, but I'm considered young for an elf." Legolas said and winked at Ris who giggled.

"Are there any elf children I can play with, while I wait?"

"I'm the youngest of my kindred, its very rare for an elf to be born, that's why we value the children of any of the races highly."

"Then can you play with me, if your not busy with somethin' else?"

"Well diplomacy has never been one of my Father's strong suits."

"Diplomacy is boring, Papa tries to teach me, but I don't pay attention."

"That's not nice." Legolas said and chuckled. "Though I do wonder what a Hobbit would teach the heir to Erebor about diplomacy?"

"Not to insult the other party, to know what you're talking about and to be nice." Ris said and Legolas laughed.

"Well child, I suppose your Papa has been teaching you well, much better than most rulers." Legoloas said and Ris nodded.

"Papa is the best, but he makes me do silly stuff and stay in the Shire, I hate the Shire, everyone is mean to me there."

"Oh _little one_ I know people can be cruel sometimes, but you just try to be nice in return okay?"

"Okay, can you teach me how to fire a bow?" Ris asked and Legolas laughed.

"Of course I can child, you can even use the one I did, as an elfling." Legolas said and pulled out a beautiful bow, which seemed about the right size for Ris. He grabbed some arrows and they went out to the forest together," Archery is one of the simplest forms of combat, all it requires is a good eye, a steady aim and patients. Remember that your arrows might not fly true the first time, or the first dozen times you shoot them. Its important to maintain a good posture while shooting, now draw the bow back with your right hand and aim with your left, never aim at someone, unless you wish them harm. Now you cock your arrow like this, pull it back and release it like so, now you try." Ris frowned when her arrow went strait up and came strait back down. "Close, lets try something different, here I'll guide your arms, and so you can see how to do it." Legolas said and stood behind Ris, gently guiding her in how to use the bow. After a few times Legolas stepped back and smiled as Ris hit near the tree. "That was very good, just a few thousand more times and you could become a archer like your cousin Kili."

"But it hurts."

"That's natural, it's the good sort of hurt, and it's teaching your muscles how to shoot." Legolas said and Ris nodded, she continued to shoot at the target, getting close to hitting it at times and widely missing the mark at others. Finally perhaps by mere chance she struck the target and grinned at Legolas.

"Did you see? Did you?"

"I saw, it was great shot Ris, you will be a archer in no time." Legolas said and Ris grinned, before returning to shooting. Soon she heard a horse coming and hid behind Legolas. "Lass it's alright, no one will harm you, with me here." Legolas said and raised an eyebrow at the dwarf who came around the bend, riding a pony.

"I've come for the child."

"That is unfortunate, we refuse to give this child to anyone but her kin, or someone she knows." Legolas said. "I suggest that you return from where you came, unless you wish to be harmed in the defense of the Princess."

The dwarf cursed at Legolas _you bloody pointy eared bastard."_

"You can't say that about my friend and Legolas is my friend. You're a meany pants and I'm not going with you." Ris said defiantly and glared at the dwarf, putting one hand on her hip, she didn't knoww hat the dwarf said but she was famillar with the tone his voice had taken having heard it often enough herself.

"Princess surely you would rather be with your own kind, then these elves."

"I don't know you and the elves have been nice, not like you." Ris said and Legolas frowned. "I don't know you and you could be playing pretend and want to hurt me. If you want me to go back to Erebor, tell Daddy to come and Papa to promise not to make me go back to the Shire, those are my terms, do you have terms Legolas?" She asked the elf as the dwarf sputtered.

"No lass, not with him, but perhaps we could determine something at a later date."

"Just like an elf to use an innocent child to his advantage."

"Just like a dwarf to think the worst of another race." Legolas returned. "If the King wishes to have his daughter brought to Laketown, I could take her there and save him the trip."

"Or she could just come with me."

"I'm not going with you, you're mean." Ris said.

"And your no higher then my knee and should be turned over it to teach you manners and not to run away , still I'll leave your punishment to your kin." The guard said. "Mind though elf, if one hair on that child's head is harmed, there will be consequences." The guard then left and Ris blew a loud wet raspberry at his back. Legolas laughed and clapped the child gently on the back. "I'm hungry why don't we get something to eat and I can tell you a story."

"Okay." Ris said and smiled at Legolas, before taking his hand and walking back to the castle frowning at the guards. "Are they here cause of me?"

"No princess, we just didn't go through the front gate before." Legolas said and Ris nodded, following Legolas and walking with him trustingly. They went to the library and settled on a comfortable couch. "Now what do you want to read?"

"Tell about the first elves!" Ris said and Legolas smiled.

"Why don't you tell me?" Legolas said and Ris folded her hands

"They woke up in a lake called the water of awakening and the sun and moon hadn't been created yet. The first elves were Imin, Iminye, Tata and Tatie and Enel and Enelye. They found more elves until they found a hundred and forty four, which is more than I can count and then they separated for one another and some became works and others became wood elves and river elves and mountain elves and well I don't know any others."

"That was very good." Legolas said and smiled. "Would you like me to tell a story now, a story about how your Papa freed your Daddy, when my father held them prisoner?" Legolas asked and Ris clapped her hands excitedly.

"Yes! Tell me that story!" She said and listened as he told the tale, and two more after that. She fell asleep part way through the forth and Legolas looked relieved at the sleeping child. He gently lowered her onto the couch and started to read one of the books. He was half way through when a messenger came running down the hall. Legolas stuck his head out and put a finger to his lips and the messenger nodded.

"My lord, Bilbo Baggins of the Shire and Thorin Oakenshield first of his name, both are here and they wish to claim their daughter."

"She's a child not a possession." Legolas said. "She's a child, she's asleep at the moment, I suppose they didn't come alone."

"No they have a battalion with them." The messenger said and Legolas sighed, before gently picking up Ris who sighed and snuggled into him.

Legolas smiled down at her and gently stroked back a lock of her hair. "You haven't gotten attached to the princess have you my lord?"

"Of course not, but despite only being fourteen years old, she's a very bright child and easy to like." Legolas replied and strode beside the guard, until he got to the gate. Ris muttered at the noise and woke up, looking around her sleepily.

"Why's it so loud?"

"Because my father is yelling at your Daddy and your Daddy has some men with him and so does my father, lets see if we can't fix this before they are at each other's throats."

"Oh okay." Ris said and smiled.

"I DIDN'T STEAL YOUR CHILD, SHE CAME TO US!"

"THEN YOU REFUSED TO GIVE HER BACK!"

"BECAUSE I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE WAS GOING TO HURT HER, YOU'D FIND SOME WAY OF BLAIMING ME IF THAT HAPPENED.

"STOP YELLING! BE NICE TO EACH OTHER." Ris shouted and heard the familiar sound of her Papa's laughter. "I'm not going back with you until you promise not to punish me and don't take me back to the Shire." Ris said.

"I don't think you have much of a choice Ris." Bilbo said and Ris crossed her arms.

"Oh really I'm a Baggins and part Took and a Durin, don't think I won't run away again, if you try to take me back there." She said her hands on her hips as she sat in Legolas' arms. Legolas laughed at the saucy little girl.

"But I'm your Papa and I know what's best for you."

"Really is it best for me to be called bad names? Or to have people hurt me, is it best for me to try to pretend to be something I'm not and will never be? Or is it best for you Papa?" Bilbo looked hurt but Ris was determined. "I'm happy in Erebor, the only reason I left was because you kept saying that we were going back to the Shire. I hate the Shire! Everyone is horrible to me there and everyone has been nice to me in Erebor so far and I have Daddy and my cousins and Uncles. I'm close to my elf friend Legolas too."

"WHAT?" Thorin demanded.

"Even though you and Legolas's Daddy are silly, doesn't mean we have to be right Legolas."

"Right little one, but if you don't go to your Daddy and your Papa, they will be sad."

"If I do, I'll be sad and then Papa will take me away and I won't see Daddy or my kin, I don't want to be alone again." Ris said and started to cry.

"There now little one, its alright, no one is doing anything are they."

"Not now." Bilbo agreed and stepped forward, before two spears held by elfish warriors crossed.

"You can't get through, not until she chooses to go to you." Thranduil said. "She might be a child, but she's capable of making her own choices. Little one if you don't go to your Papa and Daddy soon, we'll have to fight and that will make everyone very sad."

"But Papa hasn't promised yet, I'm not going until he promises."

"Yavannah save me from the stubbornness of Durins." Thranduil said and Ris giggled

"There now that's better lass, here have my handkerchief." Legolas said and handed Ris a handkerchief. She smiled at him and blew her nose before wiping her face off.

"Very well I promise not to go back the Shire for a while."

"How long is a while?" Ris asked and Bilbo raised an eyebrow.

"Two months."

"Two years." Ris returned.

"Two years, you're not taking me for a fool Rose Ris Baggins, nine weeks."

"Two years." Ris returned.

"That's not how bartending works, you have to come down."

"I hold the advantage though, you might take me back to the Shire, but that doesn't mean I'll stay there." Ris said and Legolas laughed.

"Fine two years saving something bad happening." Bilbo said. "And you can't run off where we can't find you, or else the pact is gone between us."

"Okay and you can't punish me for running away."

"Nice try little one, but what you did was very dangerous. You went to the middle of Mirkwood, without knowing where you were going." Thorin said.

"I did so know where I was going, I followed the paths." Ris said. "I was fine."

"Little girls shouldn't go across middle earth all by themselves."

"Then grown ups should be less silly." Ris said. "No punishment and you have to kiss each other, a real kiss too. The sort that Papa made me turns the other way for." Ris said and everyone stared at her. "Well those are my terms, take them or leave em."

"People don't kiss because you want them to, or love one another because you may wish it Ris." Legolas said.

"They made me so they love each other, they just forgot that they do. Babies are made only when two people love each other very much." Ris said and Legolas almost dropped her, he laughed so hard. He set her down gently and continued to laugh heartily.

" That's true baby, but that doesn't mean we love each other any more."

"When people do bad things, you forgive em right Papa? So why can't you forgive Daddy?"

"It's not that simple baby, but we won't punish you and I'll give your Daddy a kiss, then your going to come over here, alright."

"Alright." Ris said and smiled as she saw her parents kissing. She ran over to them and hugged them both. "I missed you!" She said and Thorin stared down at his daughter.

"You are entirely too adventurous by half."

"I come by it honestly." Ris said and Thorin laughed.

"Aye that you do, your cousins gave me grey hair and made my hands sore."

"You're not going to lay a hand to our daughter Thorin."

"And what can you do about it, its not like I'm hitting full force, just a smack or two on the bottom never hurt no one."

"You'd hit me?"

"Only if you did something really bad Lass, otherwise you'd be punished with chores."

"I hate chores."

"So does everyone, that's why it's called a punishment." Thorin said and Ris nodded. "Thanks for taking care of my daughter, if you're ever passing through Legolas, you're free to stay in Erebor."

"Thank you King Thorin, but I rarely go past Dale in my travels." Legolas said and bowed.

"Can I give Legolas a hug before we go Daddy, please?" Ris asked and Thorin nodded. Legolas strode forward and Ris dashed forward hugging his knees. "Come visit and tell me stories and play archery with me please?"

"I'm fairly busy lass, but I'll come when I can , I promise." Legolas said and Ris grinned.

"Bye Legolas, _**fair thee well, wherever you fair**."_

 _" **Fair thee well Ris Baggins, wherever you**_ _fair_." Legolas returned as Ris let go and went to her Daddy.

"Carry me Daddy?"

"Alright Lass." Thorin said and smiled at Ris. "However we're going to have a horsy carry us both."

"A horsey really?" Ris said and Thorin laughed.

"Yes really." Thorin said and helped Ris to get on his horse, before getting into the saddle himself. Together they rode away from the elven lands.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Ris woke up when she was gently laid down on a bed, she had loved riding on the horse with her Daddy, but she had gotten tired and fallen asleep against him. She smiled softly deciding not to tell whoever was in the room with her that she was awake. She had promised not to run away again, or go somewhere without telling her parents, but that didn't mean she hadn't promised not to explore. She felt his lips touch her head and pretended to be asleep still.

"Goodnight little one." Her Daddy's voice murmured in her ear and she felt him standing over her, watching her as he thought she slept. He gently moved a curl out of her face and turned, leaving her in the silence of the room. She heard the door close and got out of bed and went over to her closet. She pulled out a cloak and pants, before putting both on. She then wrote a letter to her Daddy and Papa.

 _I'm not running away again, I'm just going to the market, I'll be back soon I promise."_ Ris then opened the doors and stared at several guards.

"Trying to escape again little princess?" One of the guards asked and Ris shook her head.

"I'm not sleepy and want to go to the market."

"Its too late for little girls to be going to the market by themselves, its the fourth hour before dawn, much too late for little girls to be up at all. At any rate all the markets are close at the moment" Another guard said and smiled down at Ris. "Why don't we have some warm milk in the kitchens and I'll tell you a story, before you go back to your nice warm bed."

"I'm not tired!" Ris said and the guard chuckled.

"You are just like my children, never want to go to bed."

"You gots children?"

"I have two daughters and a son." The guard replied. "King Thorin wanted people who have children to guard you, because we know what little ones are like. The guard winked at her. "If you'd like to meet them sometime and if your good, your Daddy says you can play with them sometime."

"Really?"

"Of course and with mine as well, though I just have the one and he's a boy that's several years older than you."

"Mine are quite a bit older then you are and Jorir's little girl is just teething."

"I love babies." Ris said and Jorir smiled at her.

"Well then you can see my daughter too, but no mischief alright."

"But that's no fun." Ris said and Jorir laughed.

"You are a little scamp, that's what you are." He said and Ris laughed, before taking the other guard's hand.

"What's your name?"

"Gir son of Jor, Jorir is my cousin and Gar is my brother, we are at your service."

"At yours and your families." Ris said and the guards smiled, as they walked to the kitchen together. "So we rode through the night? I fell asleep on Daddy's horse."

"Yes, you just got home, but you must still be pretty tired, riding wears people out."

"I'm not, Daddy was funny he told me a bunch of stories and showed me the rocks along the path. I was tired then, but I'm not now."

"But everyone else is, can you be quiet in the corridors? We can play a game of it." Gir said and Ris nodded, they stared as the little girl moved silently, down the corridors. They found the kitchens and Ris grinned at some of the staff.

"Can I help make some bread?" She asked making bread was fun, but cooking was boring.

"Of course Princess, we'll make some together." One of the kitchen maids said with a smile, Ris grinned and washed her hands, before sitting on a stool and kneading the dough, forming it into loaves.

"Can we make orange scones now?"

"If you tell me how to make them." The kitchen maid said and Ris nodded, her Papa used baking as a lure to get her to do other things she hated, because she liked making things out of dough. She instructed the nice lady how to make the orange scones and measured things with her, before making them and putting them on the pans. "Now you want to make something else, or have some nice warm milk and try to get some more rest."

"I can take a nap later, if I need to." Ris replied. "I'm not sleepy now."

"Alright little one, but afterwards, your going to have some warm milk and try to sleep again alright?" The kitchen maid asked and Ris nodded. "So what else do you want to make?"

"Lemon seed cakes!" Ris said and the cook smiled at the little girl, as again she was instructed in how to prepare them. The scones came out when they were half way done with the seed cakes and Ris had to have one. "A cook gets to sample what they make." She said and the kitchen maid laughed.

"That's true little one, but perhaps we should offer some to your guards first?"

"Alright, you want a scone?" Ris asked Jorir and he took one.

"We'll eat in turns lass, thank you." Jorir said and bit into the scone, making a show of enjoying it.

"That looks really good Jorir." Jor said and tried to steal a bite, making Ris laugh.

"You don't gots to do that, we made a bunch." Ris said and Jor smiled at Ris, Ris went back to eating her own scone, as a cup of warm milk was placed in front of her. She dunked the scone into it, and ate it, before sipping at the milk. Soon she was yawning and walked with her guards back to her room.

"Wait I need to check for creatures." One of the guards said and Ris nodded. "Is there anything hiding under that chair?" The gaurd asked and stuck his face under the chair, making Ris giggle. "Or under the bed?" He stuck his head under the bed, getting cobwebs in his hair and making Ris laugh. "Or in the closet?" He checked the closet and the bathroom before returning to Ris. "Your room is creature free, I scared them all away, have good dreams mi lady." He said and bowed to her, Ris laughed and kissed his hand.

"Thank you Jor, I don't believe in night crawlers anymore that's for babies."

"Still all the same, I will check for night crawlers for you and creepy crawlies." Jor said and Ris giggled.

"Spiders don't scare me." Ris said and the guard smiled, as the other guards that had been guarding the empty quarters smiled at the scene. "So when do you sleep?" She asked.

"We will be here from sundown to sunup, but you will have seven other guards, from sunup to sundown."

"But I like you and my bedtime is at sundown." Ris pouted and Jor chuckled.

"We will watch your dreams princess and you will like your other guards too. I should know, they are my good sister's husband's kin and know about many things. They will also be your tutors for some of the day, but not all."

"Promise it won't be all." Ris said and Jor smiled.

"You will be with them from the second hour of day to the sixth, with breaks, after the celebrations."

"What celebrations?"

"Why the celebrations for you, of course. We always hold celebrations for when a baby is born to the line of Durin they will start in four days time and last a week."

"Will Daddy go back to work before that?"

"Yes he will be working, but if your quiet your Daddy said that you can stay in the council hall and listen to their meetings."

"Can I bring my bead box?" Ris asked and the guards nodded. Ris smiled then and got on her nightshirt. "Can you tuck me in?" She asked and her three guards tucked her into bed.

"Pleasant dreams." Gor said and Ris closed her eyes, she heard the door close softly and smiled thinking about new friends and how fun her night guards were, before drifting into sleep.

* * *

Ris woke several hours later and yawned, before getting up and taking out her braids, she then put on a pretty dress and stepped outside. She was greeted by seven guards this time and smiled at them.

"Hi I'm Rose Ris Baggins, but call me Ris." She said. "You are my teacher guards right?"

"Yes little one, I am your history teacher Birin, Barlin will be your khudzul teacher, Bolin will teach you dwarven diplomacy, Korvin is your weapons teacher, Virik will teach you metal crafting, Vorik will teach you gem crafting and finally last but not least Varlis will teach you womanly arts."

"Womanly arts, but I'm not a woman."

"You will be one day though and don't you want to learn how to make a _man_ trip over his words?"

"That would be funny." Ris agreed and all seven laughed. "So you related like my other guards?"

"We are all fairly close kin, Virik and Vorik are my brothers, Korvin is our cousin and Birin is my husband and Barlin and Bolin are his brothers. Families like to fight together in dwarven culture. My mother was from a family of makers and my father from a family of warriors, we were all taught both crafts as children and Burin's mother is a famous fighter, while his father is well known for his verses. When the time came for us to choose at our coming of age, both families decided independently to continue to study skills from both their parents."

"Cool what's your weapon?"

"Can't you tell we have them on us."

"You're an archer Virik, Vorik wields a hammer, you like swords Birin, You have a lot of weapons Korvin. The rest of you like hammers, except for you, cause you don't have a weapon."

"Oh don't I, feminine whiles can always be used as a weapon, if you know how to do it correctly. Also I have blades in my hair sticks, more blades at my fingertips, a sheath to either side of my arms, and two boot daggers."

"She's fond of daggers, if you didn't get that before child."Birin said.

"Do you have kids too, like my night guards?"

"Virik is the only one of us that doesn't have any kids, they span in ages from five months, to seventy nine. Some that are close to your age will be taking lessons with you as well, if you don't mind that."

"Really ? I get to take lessons with your kids?"

"Of course you can, now how about you break your fast, then we can decide what to do for today, your lessons won't start for eleven days."

"alright." Ris said and walked with her seven guards to the dining room, she grinned when she saw her Daddy sitting at the table, gulping down a flagon of either tea or coffee, Ris couldn't see from where she was. She ran over to him, before the guards could tell her to slow her pace and wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened a moment before relaxing.

"Hello Ris, you have a good sleep?" He asked and Ris nodded.

"I woke up when you set me down on the bed and wanted to go to the market, but my guards wouldn't let me, so I made scones instead and went to sleep again."

"Did you now, you like your night guards?"

"Yes! They are really nice! What are you drinking?"

"Coffee, would you like some uncaffinated tea?"

"Papa lets me drink some coffee, just with a lot of steamed milk.""Alright, if your Papa allows you to drink it, I don't see the harm. Still child, only give yourself what your Papa would give you, alright?"

"Alright." Ris said. "You have to pour it though, Papa always pours it for me."

"Tell me when you want me to stop Ris." Thorin said and poured some tea for his daughter, before adding milk and sugar to it. She smiled and drank the cup, eating off the same plate as him, as she did so, she loved being in her Daddy's lap, even though she knew that it wasn't good manners to do so. She finished and settled back against him, as he continued to eat, yawning occasionally." You tired Daddy?"

"A little bit, but not too bad." Thorin reassured. "I'm being naughty and making a late start of it." He added and Ris giggled.

"I'm glad I got to see you, before you had to go to council." Ris said and Thorin smiled at her.

"I'm glad I got to see you too, now where are you going today, enjoy the free time, because soon you'll be busy every day, except Durin's day."

"Aw do I have to?"

"Yes, you do, but lessons can be fun, though you might like some more than others, I did as a dwarfing."

"What were you like at my age?"

"Adventurous, he was always climbing up trees and exploring outside the mountain. He and his brother were also quite fond of pranks, particularly on their favorite cousin and tutor."

"We weren't that bad."

"Lad you were that bad and worse, serves you right to have a daughter just like you." Balin said and winked at Ris who giggled.

"We need to get together some supplies and figure out what you may have skill with, when it comes to weapons." Korvin said and Ris nodded.

"Sounds like fun." She said. "I'm gonna go to the weapons hall now Daddy."

"Be safe alright?"

"Alright, love you Daddy." Ris said and kissed him on the cheek, before getting out of his lap and going over to her tutors. They walked to her room where she changed into a tunic and breeches, before getting one of the tutors to help her with her padding.

They then walked to the weapons hall and she went over to the bow. "I like the bow!" She said and shot an arrow that nearly struck someone who was sparring.

"But the bow doesn't like you child."

"I was really good at it before." Ris pouted. "Legolas said."

"Well we're looking for weapons you could be great at today, you could make a good archer but not a great one day."

"Why does that matter, if I like to shoot?"

"Because in life sometimes we need to choose and you need to choose what you like to fight with best and stick with it."

"Oh okay." Ris said and tossed some knives at a target next, she didn't like the feel of them and told her instructor so.

"Next try the axes, these should be small enough for you."

"Okay." Ris said and was given two axes. "They are heavy!"

"They are supposed to be, axes are thrown by the handle, never pick a practice axe up by the points, alright?"

"Alright." Ris said and smiled at her tutor. "So I got to throw them, or fight with em?"

"These are throwing axes, though they are also used for fighting, lets try you with throwing them first and then we can try a bit of fighting."

"Okay." Ris said and threw the axes at the target she grinned when they both struck dead on.

"Very good, now lets try some fighting and blocking, I want you to attack that dummy with one axe, while defending against attack with the other and use your helmet alright?"

"Alright." Ris said and put on the helmet, before attacking the dummy with the axe. The dummy spun around and tried to hit her, when she didn't hit it strait on, so it was harder than she thought it would be. She started laughing and just sidestepping the dummy when it started to swing. She liked the axes and she liked the sword, she hoped the sword would be next.

"Now for the spoon, it's easy to maneuver in tight spots and can deliver..."

"Not interested, I don't want to fight with a spoon, swords next please?" Ris asked and Korvin laughed

"Alright lass, but I think you've already decided on either the sword or the axes, right?" He asked and Ris nodded. "We'll get you a practice set for both and you can decide later which one you want to take up. Dwarflings often train with several weapons they are skilled with, until they are about forty when they choose a specialty."

"That's really old!"

"We can wait until you start developing hair on your face."

"I might never have hair on my face."

"Then once you start to flower into womanhood."

"Okay." Ris said and smiled at her instructor. "Can we get em now, I already have a sword in my room, I just need the axes."

"And to wash up." Varlis said and Ris nodded.

"Alright, can you braid my hair Varlis, after we wash up, or teach me how to. I'm not good at the hobbit braids Papa showed me yet and I don't know any dwarf ones."

"Of course little one, will you need help in the bath too?"

"Can you help me with my hair, I like it when Gera helped me with my hair. I'm old enough to wash myself besides that."

"Alright, I'll help you with your hair."

"Thank you." Ris said and smiled at her, before taking Korvin's hand. "So can I get a shield, I don't think I have a shield."

"We won't start with shields for a while yet, you need to learn to block with a sword first, before you learn to block with a shield."

"Oh okay." Ris said and smiled up at the dwarf, they walked together back to her room and she got into the bath. She washed herself and felt Varlis washing her hair, noticing which bottles Valris used at what time. She was surprised at how long it took, before Varlis was done. She stepped out of the bath and Varlis helped her to put on her dress, before combing out her hair.

"Now we're going to practice with horse hair and I'll teach you some basic patterns, does that sound like fun?" Varlis asked and Ris nodded. "Hair can be used as a means of communication, women of Durin's line wear a different style than other dwarves, as do those of the other seven lines and the different crafters guild. We'll start with hair and go onto the feminine form of _the unspoken tongue._

"What's that?"

"A way of speaking without speaking, you will be learning the common form with your other tutor, but women have a unspoken tongue of their own, if used right boys will want to play with you and you can talk to your female friends without any man over hearing."

"Really?"

"Yes really." Varis said and smiled at Ris. "Now lets go to the market, maybe you should show Vorik some of your beads."

"Alright." Ris said and smiled at her teacher, before going and getting her bead box and wire. She sat down on a chair and opened a box.

"These are lovely river stones." Vorik said and Ris grinned. "Would you like more beads?"

"Yes I would and to learn how to make earrings and clasps, string works good, but clasps would be better."

"Alright we will start with identifying different stones and go onto beading."

"Why do I need to identify stones?"

"Because stones have their own language too, onyx for example is a sign that someone will care for you."

"Oh alright, can we go to the market now?"

"Of course." Vorik said and Ris grinned taking his hand and walking with him down to the market.

Ris grinned when she saw the different stones and Vorik told her their names. Barlin bought a large box with khudzul runes and showed Ris what was inside. "These stones have both a common name and a name in khudzul, you can pick out your own stones though." Ris smiled when she heard that and looked at the stones in the set, before finding ones that felt right to her and switching out the ones that had originally been in the set, putting them back into the right place. She loved the cool feeling of the stone in her fingers.

On the way to get her practice weapons, she saw large chunks of stone. "Can I have one please?" She asked her teachers and they nodded, they didn't expect to spend the next hour, standing there as Ris listened to each of the stones.

"I like this one the best, how much for it Mr. Merchant?" She asked and the merchant laughed.

"Five silvers, but you are unlikely to find anything other than more uncut stone."

"That's okay if I don't find anything, it still sounds pretty, can I get this one too?"

"I thought you said you wanted one."

"Yes, but I want to smash one and I want to hear the voice of the other one." Ris said and her teachers and the merchant smiled.

"So we have a young stone speaker on our hands now, most dwarves can hear stone to some extent. Its it faint or loud for you little one?" Vorik asked and Ris frowned.

"It sounds pretty, I don't have anything to compare it to, so I don't know if its loud or not." Ris replied and smiled, as the merchant handed her a pic and she tapped at the stone. She felt the way the pickaxe should move, around the stone and followed the pattern, tapping in time with the stone's song. She grinned when she saw a pretty green stone the size of her Daddy's fist and laughed at her tutor's astonished faces. "I like it, it has a pretty sound." She said and tapped the stone free, before continuing on through the other side of the block, this time her fingers found a small blue stone, which closed easily around her palm. She listened and tapped two more times, freeing a small red stone and a white stone. She then listened to the rock and frowned as the pretty songs it made weren't as beautiful as before.

"It sounds different now, with the stones outside of it, I think it's sad." Ris said. "I hurt its feelings." She said and her guards smiled, Vorik laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Stone is forgiving and I don't think you hurt its feelings child, gems are meant to be admired. Now lets go to the rock polishers and get these nice and shiny, I'll explain how it works." He said and Ris nodded, the process the rock polisher used to polish her gems fascinated her. She stared as they became all shiny and sparkly and thanked the dwarf for making them pretty. He had chuckled good-naturedly and assured her that it was a honor to polish the queens gems.

Ris smiled at the gem layer good naturedly, before staring at a thin little dwarfing, she could see his ribs. " _Hello I'm Ris, what's your name_."

" _Kalin at your service, can I have some food?"_ Ris heard the boy say, before her guards snapped something out her and the boy replied. She hated being unable to understand Khudzul it wasn't fair when people spoke it.

"Why can't we get him some bread?""

"Because if you feed one dwarf that is having a poor time of it, the next day more dwarves will come and more and more until you can't feed yourself. We look out for our kin, but no one expects us to help those beyond that."

"But that's mean, the hobbits were mean to me, but they would never let Papa and I starve, that's even meaner." Ris said and started to cry, she hated the idea of someone not having enough to eat.

"The world is harsh little one."

"But why doesn't Daddy help him and his family?"

"Your Daddy does, but dwarves pride ourselves on not having to rely on the aide of others. It would hurt a dwarf's pride to be given something he doesn't earn."

"Wouldn't they earn it by being in the community, what about the children they don't need to earn anything do they?" Ris asked.

"Most dwarflings are educated in their parents trade from an early age, once they turn eighty, they are expected to provide for themselves, but until then they help the family in other ways." He replied and Ris frowned.

"I'm not sure how old I'll be at eighty, do I have to wait till then to be considered an adult?"

"We'll see little one, you don't have to worry about that for a few years yet. Aren't you the same little girl that complained that forty seemed like forever away only a short while ago?" He asked and Ris nodded. "Good now lets go and finish shopping, then we can have some sweet beer and visit your Daddy."

"What's sweet beer?"

"Its beer that we allow children to drink as a treat." Varlis replied and Ris nodded, they gathered further supplies before going to a alehouse.

"One sweet beer for the child." Korvin said and a glass with a foamy amber liquid was placed in front of Ris. She took a swallow and frowned before smiling, the drink tasted of slightly bitter honey. She drank more, until she drained the cup and belched loudly, before covering her hand with her mouth. "Excuse me." She noticed that several people in the alehouse were staring at her and one ventured a question.

"Don't understand Khudzul yet, but Barlin is teaching me."

"How did you like your first taste of ale Princess?"

"It was very good, though it put bubbles in my tummy and they wanted to escape." She said and the man laughed before saying something to the crowd and they joined in the laughter.

"Can I buy the little Princess another?" The man asked and her guards looked at each other.

"We don't want her to get drunk and we don't know what her tolerance is for sweet beer."

"She's a Durin, let me buy her one drink." The man asked and the guards nodded.

"But one more only." They said and Ris was given a second mug, which she drank and smiled.

"So what's your favorite song little Princess?"

"Don't know any dwarven ones, other than the misty song Papa sings to me at bedtime." Ris said.

"How does that one go then?"

Far over the Misty Mountains cold,

To dungeons deep and caverns old,

We must away ere break of day,

To seek the pale enchanted gold,

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,

While hammers fell like ringing bells,

In places deep, where dark thing sleep,

In hollow halls beneath the fells,

For ancient king and elvish lord,

There many a gleaming hoard,

They shaped and wrought,and light they caught,

To hide in gems in hilt of sword,

On silver necklaces they strung,

The flowering stars,on crowns they hung,

The dragon-fire,in twisted wire,

There meshed the light of moon and sun,

Far over the Misty Mountains cold,

To dungeons deep and caverns old,

We must away ere break of day,

To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Goblets they carved for themselves,

And harps to gold;where no man delves,

There lay they long,and many a song,

Was song unheard by men and elves,

The pines were roaring on the height,

The winds were moaning in the night

The fire was red,;it flaming spread,

The tree's like torches blazed with light,

The bells were ringing in the dale,

And men looked up with faces pale,

The dragon's ire more fierce than fire,

Laid low their towers and houses frail.

The mountain smoked beneath the moon,

The dwarves,they heard the tramp of doom,

They fled their hall to dying fall,

Beneath his feet,beneath the moon.

Far over the Misty Mountains cold,

To dungeons deep and caverns old,

We must away ere break of day,

To win our harps and gold from him!

We went over the misty Mountains cold,

through dungeons deep and caverns old

We fought a dragon and won, then our quest was done.

But you my child to me are more precious than

Any treasure of which has been told,

my little girl to love and to hold."

Ris smiled at the end of the song. "Papa says Daddy sang it on the first night he met him." She said.

"Its a very pretty song, I'm surprised you know all of it."

"Papa always sings it to me, or he used to, I think I made him mad." She said. "I don't want to go back to the Shire."

"No one wants you to go back to the Shire, either, maybe we can convince him to stay."

"How Papa is stubborn and I'm only fourteen."

"Well age is only a barrier if you let it be little one." The nice man said and smiled. "What harm could it do to make the child a little tipsy?"

"And loose our jobs for it, no thanks." Varlis said.

"Oh come now it will be fun and she deserves a bit of fun." He added.

"I'm allowed ale now on festival days." Ris said. "Papa lets me because the others get to and its not fair that I don't just because I don't grow as fast."

"There you see, if the girl's own Papa lets her drink, why can't she have another glass, its not like its all that strong."

"Alright, if your going to have another, don't complain if you start feeling sick, okay Ris?" Varlis said and Ris nodded, she was given one last mug and drank it, as the man told her stories about his travels. She laughed when he mentioned some of the trouble he got into in his travels. She finished the tankard. "We should go now."

"Okay bye mishta." She said and frowned. "Mitrah, Mhes, you know." She said and the dwarf laughed.

"It is I that should be thanking you little Princess, why I'll be the envy of Erebor to be the first person to get the little princess drunk." He said and she laughed, though she didn't know what was so funny/. The world kept spinning and her feet weren't working right.

One of her guards scoped her up and she sat in his arms, laughing as the world bounced around her. The guards couldn't help but smile as well, at her happiness. She found her Papa waiting outside the halls.

"Phut meah dhon.' She said and the guard did so, she patted his knee. "Shank yooush." She said and Bilbo stared at her.

"Ris are you drunk?"

"Ohnly a lhatal." She replied and Bilbo groaned.

"You let my little girl drink?"

"She was having fun, we didn't know it would effect her."

"While dwarves are well known for their tolerance, hobbits drink just as much, but its slower to hit. How much did she have?"

"Some diluted honey mead is all."

"I can't believe you gave my child honey mead."

"She said it was alright, that you let her have some yourself."

"Yes but it wasn't near the amount you gave her and it was mostly seltzer." Bilbo complained. "She's only a baby, she shouldn't be drinking this young."

"Dwarflings are allowed to drink sweet beer at ten." Korvin said.

"But she's my daughter too and if I don't want her to drink, I should be allowed my say."

"I Lheksh ieet, isht fu-fuhnay." Ris said and laughed, before belching.

"We're going to get you into bed and you are going to sleep it off."

"Nhaths shelehy."

"I don't care if your not sleepy, the sooner your tucked into bed the better."

"Bhuh Ihe don' wanna." She said. "Wanna sheehs Dahh."

"Daddy is busy right now, you can see him after your nap."

"Whan ta shee em now."

"Little one please, just do what your Papa says okay? You can see Daddy after he's done for the day, I'll wake you I promise." Bilbo said.

"Ohhaky." Ris said and lifted her arms. Bilbo scooped up his daughter and she laid her head on his shoulder. She was asleep within moments and snoring loudly.

"I can take her."

"I can carry my own daughter, but thank you for offering." Bilbo said and walked with the little girl to her bedroom. "Though if you could turn back the covers." He added and another guard did it for him. He gently settled Ris into bed, as he did so the little girl woke up.

"Pah." She said.

"I'm here little one, do you want the Misty song?" He asked and she nodded, he tucked her doll against her and covered her with a blanket, before starting to sing, gently stroking her hair. He stopped part way through the song when she started to snore again and kissed her forehead. He left the room and turned towards the guard's "Don't ever give my daughter ale without my permission again, dwarves might find it funny when their children are piss drunk, but I don't and she'll be hurting tomorrow. Did you even think of what a little girl who has a hangover will be like, before you let her get drunk?" Bilbo demanded and the guard looked anywhere but at the irate hobbit.

"I've handled it well enough with my own kids."

"Well she wont be asking for her guards when she's throwing up and her head hurts, she'll be asking for her parents. Which means that I'll be the one taking care of her, because Thorin is busy from dawn to dark running this place and its not like I have a life at all!" Bilbo glared at his daughter's tutors. "Against my better judgment I trusted you with my daughter, you dwarves might care for treasure, but to me that little girl is the most precious thing in my life and you hurt her!" He stormed off away from the guards after that to give Thorin a piece of his mind, hang the council.

"THORIN OAKENSHIELD, I WAS AGAINST YOU ASSIGNING TUTORS FOR OUR DAUGHTER, BUT I TRUSTED YOUR JUDGEMENT AND THEY GOT HER BLIND DRUNK." He shouted and glared at Thorin, who stared agape at the furious hobbit. "HOW COULD YOU LEAVE MY CHILD WITH PEOPLE THAT THINK ITS FUNNY TO MAKE HER SO DRUNK SHE CAN'T EVEN WALK?"

"Bilbo what's the meaning of this, what's happened?"

"JUST BECAUSE YOUR CHILDREN START BOOZING BEFORE THEY ARE OUT OF DIAPERS DOESN'T MEAN I'LL LET MY DAUGHTER DO SO."

"She's our child Bilbo."

"NO SHE'S NOT, TO MY MIND YOU LOST ALL CLAIM ON HER WHEN YOU THEATENED TO DROP ME AND MY CHILD DOWN A MOUNTAIN." He glared at Thorin. "I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE THAT I DON'T WANT YOU ALONE WITH HER, BUT SHE HAS OTHER IDEAS AND NOW I'VE GOT TO KEEP MY WORD TO HER, BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT A THRISE DAMMED WAR WITH ELVES. TELL ME HOW ANY OF THIS IS FAIR TO ME, HOW IS IT FAIR THAT I CAN'T EVEN GO HOME, BECAUSE OF THE WHIMS OF A BABY."

"HOW WAS SEPERATING US FAIR TO EITHER OF US?" Thorin shouted back.

"OH LIKE YOU'VE DONE SUCH A FINE JOB OF TANKING CARE OF HER, YOU NEED ONLY CALL AND SHE COMES RUNNING TO YOU, BUT HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO STOP HER FROM CLIMBING THE CABINATES? OR WHATEVER ELSE SHE COMES UP WITH? SHE DOESN'T LIKE WHAT I HAVE TO TEACH HER, WHAT I HAVE TO OFFER HER SO SHE RUNS AWAY TO YOU. YOU ARE LIKE A HERO TO HER, IF DADDY EVER DID IT CHANCES ARE SHE'LL WANT TO DO IT TOO, DESPITE HOW OLD SHE IS AND THE DANGER! I'M NOT HAVING MY BABY BEING RAISED BY SOME STANGERS THAT DON'T SEE THE PROBLEM IN GETTING HER BLIND DRUNK."

"RIS ISN'T A BABY, SHE'S A YOUNG GIRL BUT SHE'S ALLOWED HER OWN OPINIONS."

"OH LIKE ANYONE COULD STOP HER FROM HAVING AN OPINION, THOSE GUARDS HURT MY CHILD, I WANT THEM DISMISSED."

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW HARD IT WAS TO FIND TUTORS IN THE FIRST PLACE? TUTORS THAT COULD SPEAK COMMON FLUENTLY AND KNEW ALL THE SUBJECTS RIS NEEDS TO LEARN?"

"AND WHAT OF MY TRADITONS, DON'T THEY MATTER?"

"RIS IS MY HEIR AND SHE'S OF THE LINE OF DURIN, SHE'LL BE RAISED ACCORDINGLY."

"SHE'S ALSO MY DAUGHTER AND I HAVE A RIGHT TO SOME SAY IN HOW SHE'S RAISED."

"DO YOU NOW, YOU NEVER GAVE ANY OF US ANY RIGHT IN HOW SHE WAS RAISED BEFORE, WHY SHOULD I?"

"I'LL DISSAPEAR WITH HER AND YOU WILL NEVER FIND US."

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, YOU WOULD ALWAYS BE RUNNING, I'D SEARCH EVERY INCH OF MIDDLE EARTH FOR YOU AND NO PLACE WOULD BE SAFE."

"DON'T YOU DARE THEATEN ME THORIN!" Bilbo roared.

"THEN DON'T YOU THREATEN ME!" Thorin said. "THIS IS ALL ONE BIG CULTURAL MISUNDERSTANDING, IF YOU HAD ANY NOTION OF DWARVES..."

"RIGHT LIKE YOU KNOW ABOUT HOBBITS?" Bilbo demanded. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOV-ED YOU!

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT DESPITE EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE TO ME, I STILL LOVE YOU." Thorin said.

"EVERYTHING I'VE DONE TO YOU, THAT'S RICH! WHATEVER HAVE I DONE TO YOU, THAT WASN'T FOR THE SAFTEY OF MYSELF AND MY CHILD?"

"YOU LEFT AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO, YOU KEPT OUR DAUGHTER FROM ME, YOU BETRAYED ME."

"I SAVED YOUR THICK SKIN FROM ELVISH ARROWS, UNLESS YOU THINK FIVE HUNDRED TO ONE ARE SOUND ODDS, THEN I HAD THE STUPIDITIY OF STICKING MY NECK OUT AND GOING BACK TO YOU. WHERE UPON YOU PROMPTLY THREATENED TO KILL ME."

"I WAS GOLD MAD!"

"OH RIGHT THATS' A GRAND EXCUSE, EXCUSE ME I'VE GONE CRAZY FROM COUNTING MY RICHES, NOW I CAN CLAIM ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE OUT TO GET ME AND THREATEN THE LIFE OF MY LOVER WITH IMPUNITY. THEN OF COURSE ALL IS FORGIVEN BECAUSE I WAS GOLD MAD." Thorin growled and lunged at Bilbo, as Bilbo glared at him. "TRY IT, GO AHEAD, BUT IF OUR DAUGHTER ASKS WHY HER PAPA HAS BRUISES, I WILL TELL HER EVERYTHING, INCLUDING WHAT YOU DID AND WHAT I DID. I HAVE NO PROBLEM LETTING HER KNOW I STOLE A GEM TO SAVE THOSE I CARE ABOUT, NONE WHATSOEVER, CAN YOU SAY THE SAME ABOUT YOUR OWN ACTIONS."

"THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU TOLD HER?" Thorin demanded.

"BECAUSE LITTLE GIRLS DESERVE TO BELIEVE THE WORLD OF THEIR PARENTS, BEFORE THEY REALIZE THAT ONE OF THEM IS A MONSTER AND ANOTHER A THIEF."

"SO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU ARE A THIEF?"

"I'LL ADMIT THAT, WHEN YOU ADMIT THAT YOU BECOME A VIOLENT PSYCHOPATH AROUND ANYTHING SHINY! AND YOU WONDER WHY I DON'T WANT MY CHILD NEAR ANY PRECIOUS STONES? I WON'T LOOSE HER LIKE..."

"LIKE WHAT?"

"LIKE I LOST YOU!" Bilbo said and dissolved into tears. "She-she's mine, she's the oh-only thing in the world tha-that matters to me. Please don't let her come to harm."

"I would never harm her, I don't see what you are so angry about, but if her not drinking is this important to you then I'll tell her guards to make sure she isn't given any drink." Thorin promised and hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around Bilbo, to his shock Bilbo didn't brush him away. Instead the hobbit clung to him as he sobbed.

Thorin stroked Bilbo's back soothingly as one of the guards passed him some brandy. "Here have some of this, it will settle your nerves." He said and Bilbo took the cup draining it. "Would you like to stay, it will be in Khudzul, but you can stay if you like?" Bilbo wanted to stay, but he couldn't bring himself to trust Thorin again. Thorin had broken his heart once before and if he did so again, Bilbo was afraid it would shatter beyond repair.

"Just hold me a moment longer." Bilbo said and Thorin nodded, he held Bilbo as he cried and felt the warmth of his body pressed against Bilbo's for the first time in fourteen years. A king could never admit that he was wrong, for to do so would be to challenge his very authority, but mad or no Thorin had regretted what he had almost done to Bilbo every day since. To live without the love of your One was the worst fate for any dwarf. He was lucky in that his one even allowed him to hold him. Thorin pressed his face against Bilbo's so they could not see his tears. Bilbo felt Thorin shutter and saw that he was crying, with his face buried in Bilbo's hair. Bilbo pretended that he didn't know and continued to wail and have hysterics. Ever since Bilbo was a fauntling, he had been submissive, his parents taught him how to use his tears and other more traditionally female ways of getting his way in certain areas. He knew crying like he was made people feel uncomfortable, but he didn't care about what the council felt about it. "Cha-Can ya-you leave for a mo-moment?" He stuttered.

"Of course lad, take all the time you need." Balin said and stood, the rest of the council followed and Bilbo buried his face into Thorin's shirt, pretending to cry now, as Thorin's own tears fell on his head.

"I'm sa-sorry I stole the stone." Bilbo murmured against Thorin's jacket

"And I'm sorry I ever hurt you." Thorin said. "I can't admit I was wrong though Bilbo, ever."

"I understand." And Bilbo did, his own family had been the chosen rulers of his own people for generations and before that they had been kings in their own right. He knew the responsibility inherent in leadership, all those of Took blood did, whether or not the people called upon them to serve the Shire. "Its alright." In that moment it felt alright, he hesitantly reached his arm up and stroked Thorin's hair, Thorin stiffened and then relaxed at the touch. Bilbo was surprised when he found a small acorn hidden among Thorin's braids. "You kept it all this time?"

"I will keep it always, no matter what you might think of me, you are my One Bilbo and I could never harm you or my child. I think a part of me knew that, even in my madness." Thorin said and continued to cry and the constant ache around Bilbo's heart eased.

"Its alright Thorin, I forgive you, you weren't yourself, but if you ever."

"Having lost you once, I will do everything in my power to ensure I never loose you again." Thorin said and then broke down completely, Bilbo stroked his hair as Thorin cried, murmuring softly to him. He settled into Thorin's lap, wrapping his feet around the dwarf king's hips and pressing his lips softly to Thorin's. Thorin deepened the kiss, it tasted both salty and sweet to both of them, as they feasted on one another lips for the first time in fifteen years.

It all happened quickly after that, Bilbo unbuttoned his waistcoat and Thorin's shirt. "Why would you want to..." Thorin trailed off as Bilbo licked his ear.

"Because you aren't the monster I dream of anymore, I didn't want to get close and see a stranger staring at me out of the eyes of the person I love. I couldn't bear to see that again.

"You love me?"

"I couldn't stop loving you, no matter how hard I tried. I might have said that I was protecting Ris and I was, but I was protecting my own heart as well."

"Oh Bilbo." Thorin said softly.

"Promise me that you won't get sick again, that there is some hope for our love."

"As soon as you were gone, I locked up the treasure and I don't go to the crafters side of the markets. I keep a few simple stones around, because metal has always effected me more than gems and it soothes me. Other than that I live an assure life for a dwarf, so much so that my people are baffled by it." Thorin kissed Bilbo again. "I want to take it slow, but at the same time, I want you pressed up against me, crying out my name, as I give you pleasure and take my own."

"I want that too, just don't hurt me."

"I can't promise not to hurt you, anymore than you can promise not to hurt me. No matter what however, I will always love you."

"And I you." Bilbo said and Thorin smiled, he unlaced his trousers and Bilbo's before entering Bilbo and slowly rocking against him. Bilbo let out a little mewl like a cat and clung to the council hall rug.

"You have no idea of how many boyhood fantasies featured this rug, _beloved."_

"What did you call me?"

"Beloved." Thorin replied and Bilbo smiled.

"I thought of you often myself _beloved."_ Bilbo said and Thorin went wild, soon they were both spent. "Oh dear the carpet."

"It will show all my council my prowess in bed sport."

"I'm sure that's a very lovely dwarven tradition, but can't we make it a bit erm less noticeable?"

"You my wonderful hobbit aren't exactly quiet in bed sport, I have a feeling they know precisely what we were up to." He said and Bilbo turned several shades of red and groaned.

"Not Fili and Kili, I don't think I could look them in the eye afterwards." Bilbo said and Thorin howled with laughter.

"My sister sons are men grown and know better then to quibble over the needs of a man. I think they are glad that their old Uncle is getting some."

"You aren't old."

"Ah but to them I'm ancient." Thorin replied with a wink and Bilbo laughed. "We could clean up the mess, or..." Thorin thrust his hips suggestively and Bilbo moaned. "We could go again." He whispered into Bilbo's ear and Bilbo shivered, before nodding. Thorin entered him seven more times, before collapsing and starting to snore loudly in Bilbo's ear. Bilbo chuckled softly, before gently moving Thorin off of him. Thorin was a light sleeper, except after their marathons, then he slept like the dead. Bilbo put Thorin's pants on him and pulled on his shirt and waistcoat, pleasantly sleepy and sore in all the right places, he felt like he could take on the world and the odd looks he might receive from his friends. He covered Thorin with a coat, before quietly exiting the hall, coming face to face with a guard.

"Can you continue to watch the hall, I don't think the king will stir for some time yet." Bilbo told the wide-eyed guard.

"How are you upright?" The guard demanded and Bilbo blushed.

"Well hobbits have stamina for all of life's pleasures, eating and bedroom relations being chief among them." Bilbo said and the dwarf continued to stare at him in wonder, as he made his way to the dining hall.

"I'm surprised your here at all Bilbo, what with Uncle keeping you occupied."

"I wouldn't go back to the council, until its been cleaned and Thorin's woken."

"You mean Uncle is asleep?" Kili demanded his eyes wide.

"He usually goes to sleep after the seventh round or so, mind I'm tired too, but I feel like I could eat a dragon." Bilbo said and Fili laughed, though his eyes were wide.

"Dragon tastes like chicken." Fili said and Bilbo shuddered. "We feasted on it, after the battle."

"I didn't need to know what it tasted like and I don't actually wish to eat one." He said and Kili laughed.

"You can go seven rounds?" Kili asked. "The most I've ever managed was six."

"With your own hand I warrant." Fili said.

"It was not!" Kili pouted and Bilbo laughed.

"Lads by the valar I missed you."

"Why did you stay away so long?" Kili asked

"If you remember I was banished."

"Uncle is a _fool."_ Fili said _._

"What did you call your uncle?"

"A fool." Fili replied. "As crown prince I'm the only one in Erebor who can call him such, with out treason, but that doesn't mean everyone else doesn't think it. You have no many times I tried to convince him to send a letter and had I been a bit younger, I'd have forged one. Uncle is so annoying when he's mopey." He said and several people chuckled.

"He might be a _fool,_ but he is a _beloved_ one."

"You know Khudzul?"

"I know two words of it." Bilbo said with a grin, as someone deposited a plate of meat and some ale in front of him. Bilbo realized then that he hadn't take herbs. "by the mother I forgot my herbs."

"What herbs?"

"Well as much as I love Thorin and Ris, I don't think we need another child at the moment."

"Hobbits kill their children, by use of herbs?" Fili demanded aghast and the rest of the table was equally shocked.

"What dwarves don't, what if you don't want children?"

"Ever dwarf wants children, they are a blessing from Mahuel." Fili said.

"Its not even a child, it just prevents the seed from taking root so to speak." Bilbo said and blushed deeply.

"Don't you want another child?"

"I'm not sure I could love another child, as much as I love Ris."

"The heart opens up Bilbo, you don't loose your love for a first child, if you are blessed with a second." Dis said and Bilbo stared at her. "Please if there is a babe, don't kill it before it has a chance to be born. If you don't want another child, we would be happy to care for it."

"I would want to be a part of my child's life and I want to make sure things work with Thorin, before having another baby, its my body it should be my right to choose if I want to spend another seven months carrying it."

"Seven months" Fili demanded. "You only carried for seven months?

"Yes and the healers thought there was something wrong with me, but RissyRose rolled like a little thumpin pumpkin."

"What's a thumpin Pumpkin?" Kili asked.

"A pumpkin used for rolling games, you start up a hill...Why did you say only seven months?"

"Dwarven pregnancies usually last sixteen months. Was Ris small at all for a baby?"

"No despite being four months late." Bilbo said and his friends gaped again as he ate a bite of meat.

"You mean you only carry for three months typically?"

"Yes, I guess that our birthing cycle is a bit quick for most races, its because hobbits are generally poor at defending themselves. Beorn wasn't wrong when he compared me to a rabbit, but I find the comparison a bit insulting."

"You have as many babes as rabbits?" Fili demanded and Bilbo spilled ale from his mouth as he laughed, covering up his bad manners with a napkin.

"No, the most I ever heard of anyone having is twenty six."

"TWENTY SIX?" The table demanded.

"You can see now why the herb isn't just a whim, its a necessity, as much as I love Ris, I don't want to have more than eight children and eight would be stretching it."

"EIGHT?" The table demanded.

"Well my parents only ever had the one, but that was by choice, I wouldn't want to have any past my eighties of course, I want them to actually enjoy having their Papa for a while."

"Jus how long do you live."

"Kili!" Dis snapped. "I'm sorry Bilbo."

"Its alright, no where near as long as dwarves, gave me a shock when you said you were in your seventies. I think the oldest hobbit lived to be one hundred and forty four, but most die before they are a hundred."

"A HUNDRED?" The table demanded again and Bilbo grinned.

"Well we can't all have as long of lifespan as you or the elves enjoy." Bilbo said and took a sip of his ale. "You won't have to worry about my dying on you for about another fifty years or so."

"Just how old are you Bilbo?" Balin asked.

"I was of age, when I joined the company, just but I was of age." Bilbo said. "I age faster than you do and I'll thank you to treat me like my actually age, rather than the age I would be if I was a dwarf."

"Of course we would, I'm just curious."

"I'm forty eight."

" _Cradle robber."_ Dis muttered and everyone laughed.

"What did she say?"

"Its not important lad."

"Oh no, you don't get to call me lad." Bilbo huffed. "I'm fully grown for a hobbit." He said, before turning green and then white and running to the nearest bathroom, as people moved out of his way. He vomited the ale and little meat he had eaten and groaned, of course he would be pregnant. Well at least his friends Ris and Thorin would be happy.

"We didn't mean to make you sick." Balin said and Bilbo smiled at him.

"Its quite alright, I don't think dwarven ale agrees with me."

"The ale at the Shire was lighter, perhaps you'd like a lighter brew?" He asked and Bilbo's stomach flipped unpleasantly at the thought.

"No that's quite alright, think I'll just stick to meat and water, once my stomach settles.

"Need a hand up?" Balin asked and Bilbo nodded, taking Balin's hand and shakily getting to his feet. He wished he could have a drink, or a smoke, but the mother made pregnant hobbits horribly sick if they enjoyed a bit of life's pleasures. He ate more of the meat, stuffing himself, before standing and yawning.

"Going to bed?" Balin asked and Bilbo nodded, before going back to the council chambers and cleaning up the mess he had made, before getting Thorin to wake up.

"Ilbo, a dream?" He asked dazedly and Bilbo smiled.

"We agreed to try to make it work remember, part of that is making sure you don't spend the night on the hard floor and get something to eat before going to bed."

"Mmm food and ale sounds good, so has word of my prowess spread across the kingdom?" Thorin asked and Bilbo chuckled.

"What is it with dwarves and having to outdo one another?" Bilbo demanded, before helping Thorin up and walking with him to the dining table as the king laughed.

"I'm surprised your up at all Uncle, I'd hate to see the state of the chambers now."

"Bilbo cleaned afterwards, my fastidious hobbit." He said and kissed Bilbo's ear, Bilbo blushed several shades of red, and beamed. He'd never gotten quite used to how dwarves were so demonstrative in public, but he liked being able to kiss Thorin in public, without anyone batting an eye.

Thorin helped himself to Bilbo's mostly full mug of ale as someone brought him a plate of meat with a large helping of potatoes.

"Do you truly eat no vegetables at all?" Bilbo asked and the table laughed.

"We don't like vegetables as much as the elves or hobbits seem to, I could try to get you some lettuces if you like."

"That would be appreciated, and I'd like several bushels of fresh fruit too."

"How much fruit do you eat?"

"I prefer the hobbit method for making jam." Bilbo said and smiled at Thorin. "I think Ris does too, though she'll eat about anything as long as it isn't moving." He smiled as his friends laughed.

"Alright, you can see what's in the markets tomorrow, or I can send to Dale, whatever you prefer."

"I'd like to check the markets first and then go to Dale if they don't have what I want there."

"All right." Thorin said and smiled at Bilbo. "I look forward to tasting your jam."

"You may have to fight me for it." Bilbo said and Thorin laughed, Bilbo chuckled too, poor dwarf had no idea what he was getting into, if Bilbo truly had a babe in him. They asked or rather insisted for it and well Bilbo didn't want to deny his friends the opportunity to dote on his and Thorin's baby. They finished eating and then Thorin proceeded to have a drinking contest with Dwalin, as the others laughed and cheered. Bilbo helped his extremely drunk and victorious husband to bed that night.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Bilbo was able to keep his secret for three months, before he first felt the baby kicking and decided it was time to see Oin. He was bigger than he had been with Rose, but he wasn't half starved now, so he thought things were progressing nicely. Not only would Thorin and Ris be able to feel the baby, but also Bilbo's mood swings were going to flare up any day now. He chuckled at the memory of how glad Gandalf had been when Rose had finally been born. "I have faced many creatures on middle earth, but I have found none half so dangerous and befuddling as a pregnant hobbit." He had told Bilbo who had laughed and told him to come round for tea any time he wished.

He missed that old wizard, he thought and burst into tears, great it was starting. "Bilbo what's wrong?"

"Na, nothing, just ga-going to see Oin."

"Why do you need to see Oin?" Thorin asked but Bilbo dissolved into sobs. "Its alright my honey thief, we'll see Oin." Bilbo sniffled and smiled wetly at the nickname.

"Can Ris come too?"

"Of course, she's with Varlis today, I think she'll be glad of the excuse to be with her Papa for a while." Thorin said and Bilbo started laughing, once he started he couldn't stop and Thorin was staring at him like he had grown three heads.

"What you looking at?" Bilbo demanded angrily.

"Nothing." THorin said hastily glancing at anything but Bilbo. "So have you been imbibing any strange substances I should know of?" Bilbo felt highly offended.

"Perhaps it would be better if you refrained from talking." Bilbo said and Thorin stared at his husband before wisely falling silent. Bilbo went to the table and sat down, glad that he could still eat what he liked unlike some races, which turned pale at some food during pregnancy. He took eggs and sausage and smiled at Ris. "How would you like to go with Papa to see Oin today?"

"Can I skip today's lesson?" Ris asked and Bilbo laughed.

"Ah so there is something dwarven, you don't like." Bilbo said and tickled her. "Yes Rissy Rose, you can skip your lesson."

"I'm not a baby." Ris said and Bilbo held back tears.

"I know you aren't, but you will always be my baby." Bilbo told her and she smiled at him, before hugging him.

"Love you Papa, love you Daddy." She said and Thorin chuckled.

"Oh I'm not sure how much longer she'll need these lessons Varlis, she's quite the little charmer already."

"You mean that I can get my way, if I continue the lessons?" Ris asked interested and Bilbo started a laughing fit. "What's wrong with Papa."

"I think its something he ate."

"More like something you fed me." Bilbo said, before coming down with an incurable case of the giggles. "Well I don't think I'll be able to last until we get to the medical hall. Oin in about four months, I'm going to need your help in delivering Ris' little brother or sister." Forks and mouths dropped all down the table and it took Bilbo a moment to realize that Thorin had fainted. "Thorin?" Bilbo asked and shook his lover. "Thorin?" He demanded again, before spilling a water glass over him.

"I had the strangest dream, you said you were going to have a child in four months." Thorin said and Bilbo started laughing again, unable to stop he nodded and pressed Thorin's hand to his stomach. "I felt that." Thorin's eyes filled with wonder and Bilbo suddenly wanted to have sex with him.

"Chambers now." Bilbo said and Thorin stared at him.

"Is that good for the baby?"

"Its fine for the baby, if we erm play together."

"You mean the noisy game, that I can't go into your quarters and play with you? Why would that be bad for the baby?" Ris asked and all thoughts of amorous action went out of Bilbo's head, as he turned the color of a strawberry and helped himself to half a jar of jam, toast and sausage on top, before busying himself with chewing.

"Precisely, you can't play very rough with Papa right now."

"Oh okay." Ris said and smiled. "Papa did you make a quilt for the baby?"

"I have it back in our rooms." Bilbo said, he'd moved in with Thorin after two months of Thorin asking him and convincing him to in delicious ways.

"Are you going to get married?"

"Would you like us to, Ris?" Bilbo asked and Ris nodded.

"Then I could be the flower gold girl." Ris said and Bilbo felt utterly confused.

"Flower gold girl?" Bilbo asked.

"I'll toss flowers and gold at the wedding. Can I get my first set of beads then, when you give Papa his?"

"There won't be gold at our wedding, but you can toss some flat stones if you like." Thorin said and smiled at Bilbo. "Do you want to marry me?"

"Oh no you've got to do this properly and so have I." Bilbo said and grinned. "So what are the traditions for dwarven courtship?"

"You ask and your beloved answers, then there's a seven day celebration for the newly weds and their closest kin."

"You dwarves and your courting rituals, very well I consent to be courted."

"What does this courting entail?" Thorin said.

"I've been carrying your child in the middle of winter I might add, be a wise dwarf and do whatever I says it entails." Bilbo snapped.

"How long are you gonna be moody Papa? Is my little baby sibling making you moody?" Ris asked and Bilbo smiled.

"Just four more months Rissy Roo."

"That's like forever." Ris said echoing what everyone in the hall was thinking at that moment.

"It feels like forever for me too Ris." Bilbo said and Ris smiled.

"You gonna name the baby like me, cause I don't think it will like being called a flower either."

"I can name the baby however I want, considering I'm the one carrying it for seven months, any objections? No? Smart move, however I am open to suggestions." Bilbo said.

"How about Kili the second?"

"No one living, I have five cousins with similar names." Bilbo replied. "And who knows I might get another little girl."

"There's a dwarfish saying that having one girl is a blessing, two a miracle and three a travesty."

"Why is three a travesty, when two is a miracle?"

"Think of when they want to meet a likely looking fellow." Thorin said and Bilbo laughed, already the company was incredibly protective of their little Princess, he couldn't imagine what they would be like with two more.

"But what if I want three."

"Have as many as you can if you like, the more children the better." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled and the baby gave a kick.

"I think someone agrees with you, I think they are going to be a handful."

"Why do you say that?"

"Rissy didn't move this much as a baby."

"Can I feel Papa?" Ris asked and Bilbo nodded, putting her hand to his stomach and smiling as her eyes widened. "It kicked me!"

"It likes its big sister." Bilbo said and stroked his daughters hair.

"I want it to come out now!"

"Its too little to come out now Ris, it needs to get nice and big where its safe and warm."

"Oh Alright."

"You don't need to go to the healers quarters, I can check on you and the baby in your own bed."

"Alright." Bilbo said and smiled at Oin. "My thanks for saving me the flight of stairs, my feet are swelling pretty bad."

"So that's where my shoes went off to, I wondered." Dwalin said and Bilbo blushed.

"Yours were the only ones that fit me."

"We'll have a cobbler come out and fit you with new ones." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled. "I'm also quite good at foot rubs, so what precisely does hobbit courting entail?"

"Well will the company, Dis and Ris be willing to act as my negotiators?" Bilbo asked and his friends all nodded. "Don't worry Thorin, I'm going to make it easy on you."

"Not twenty tasks like Aunty Prim set Uncle Drogo?"

"Not at all, lets see there were fourteen of us, its a good dwarven number, or at least you lot seem quite fond of it."

"Fourteen tasks, you do want to get married some time before the baby is born?" Thorin said and Bilbo laughed.

"I'm not going to have your negotiators make you do fourteen tasks, how about seven?" Bilbo asked and Thorin looked relieved. "Now I want you to form teams of two or three people and each can come up with a task for Thorin. My only stipulation is that my husband to be will suffer no lasting damage."

"That sounds fair, so should we go easy on him?"

"That's for you to decide, I have no stake in this part of the proceedings save my own agreement."

"Then why is it necessary?"

"In the old days the tasks were to prove to those that cared for who you were marrying, that you were able to care for your husband. Actually both couples do it lately and the tasks have evolved into a fun tradition for all. Taking the Task is a viable excuse to get out of any jail house in the Shire." Bilbo said and the company laughed

"And will you be taking the task as well?" Oin asked and Bilbo nodded.

"I'd hate to miss out on my chance to do something I've been looking forward too, since I was knee high to a grasshopper." Bilbo said and smiled. "Though I'd appreciate it if you accounted for the baby, no marathons please." He added and everyone laughed. "You have seven days to determine your tasks."

"Alright Ris, Ki and I will be a team." Fili said and Ris cheered, she idolized her older cousins and they her.

"I'll team up with Gera." So it progressed until the teams were all sorted.

 **AN: I decided to break this chapter up into three or four chapters, as the tasks make it over 10,000 words**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The following seven days the company was whispering in the halls and little work got done, until it was finally time for the tasks.

"Thought we could take it in turns, do you want to go first Thorin?" Bilbo asked.

"Better get this over with." Thorin said and Ris jumped up and down.

"Me first! Me first!" She said and Bilbo smiled.

"Alright sweetheart, what do you have in mind?"

"You've got to walk down to the river in your underwear juggling two blue balls and drinking hot brandy at each of the checkpoints." She said and innocently handed him two blue wooden balls. "And don't drop em, or else you gotta start back at the last checkpoint.

"But its the middle of winter."

"That's why your not going into the river, I talked Ki and Ris down from that."

"Thank you Fili." Thorin gritted and stripped to his long underwear, he was shivering within moments as he started to juggle the two blue balls. Bilbo was bent double laughing at the special he made and the company was trying to hide their own laughter, rather unsuccessfully. He took the elevator down to each landing and waited for Thorin with the Princes and Princess, as the rest of Erebor watched around the elevator.

"So what have you got planned for me."

"Wouldn't you like to know." Ris said and Bilbo smiled, ruffling his daughter's hair gently. By the end of Thorin's walk he was blue all over, shivering and staggering, he had only dropped the balls twice. He glared good-naturedly at his nephews as he put on warm clothing.

"Now Bilbo has to make a necklace with wirework and crimping, like the one I made in my gem class." Ris said and held up a necklace that Bilbo had no idea of how to make and Bilbo started crying.

"What's wrong, making a necklace is easy compared to that."

"But I don't know how to." Bilbo wailed and Thorin stared at him.

"You don't know wire work, but you've seen me help Ris with her projects before."

"Its different when your doing it." Bilbo sniffed.

"Its a lot easier than beading, I know I can't help Papa, but I could decide to make a necklace at the same time." Ris said and Bilbo nodded.

"We all can do that." Thorin assured Bilbo and Bilbo felt better.

"Alright lets go to the gem stall, do we need wire?"

"I've got lots of wire, crimps and clasps in my room." Ris said and Bilbo smiled.

"Alright then." Bilbo said and walked into the market, he didn't really know where to start, or what to do, as Fili handed him a pouch of gold.

"Get some clothes and things for the baby too, if you have the time."

"Thanks Fili." Bilbo said and strode off, he walked among the bead sellers, until he found one selling stone beads of multiple colors with silver inlay. "How long does it take to make one of these?"

"A few minutes, I do them myself." The store clerk said and Bilbo smiled, picking out the ones he wanted and grinning when he found the rune that had been carved into his door so many years ago.

" _What has this mean?"_ He asked the merchant and the merchant smiled.

"You mean _does, not has._ It means one in khudzul, its usually meant to signify places of meeting, or can be used as a means of counting."

"And fourteen?"

"That will be this one." He said and Bilbo smiled, a plan starting to form in his head.

"And is there a rune for always?"

"That one."

"And love?"

"This one."

"And how about B?" Bilbo asked and was shown the right rune. "T and R?" He was shown two more runes. "I need two runes of a dragon, one of a troll, one of a goblin, one of an elf, one of a barrel, one of a dead dragon and one of a wizard."

"Are you making a necklace for your task?" The merchant asked and Bilbo nodded. "Then I am honored that you chose my humble shop." He said with a jovial smile, as Bilbo put to memory what runes meant what. He watched fascinated as the man melted and attached the silver to the stones.

"How do you get it to be the right shape and engrave it?"

"I shape it and then draw on the shaving." The merchant replied and Bilbo nodded. "I've been doing this for seventy years now, it will be quite beautiful when its finished.

"Thank you." Bilbo said and smiled, cocking his head and bowing.

""You don't bow to me, I bow to you."

"There's no nobility among hobbits, that might be necessary for my future husband and daughter, but I'm not about to pretend I'm better than anyone, just because of who I love." Bilbo said with a tight smile and the merchant nodded.

"Well I thank you, for your heartfelt thanks, its a honor to be at your service. What do you plan to do with this once its finished?"

"I'm not really sure, I suppose give it to one of the boys for safe keeping until Ris is responsible enough to not loose it."

"So the product from the task always goes to the assigner of the task?"

"Yes." Bilbo said and the merchant smiled.

"And the family has to pronounce it satisfactory?" He asked and again Bilbo nodded.

"Why?"

"Because this might be cheaper for my daughter's intended and looks like a great deal of fun to boot. I'll get a kick out of having the lad scurry all over Erebor to please me and my relatives, is seven tasks traditional?"

"Not at all, the intendeds assigns the number and picks their champions."

"So my daughter would have to do tasks as well?"

"Well yes, but usually girls and submissive have an easier time of it than dominant boys."

"So your a submissive?"

"That's a personal question and I have no intention of answering. Though I am pregnant and you can draw your own conclusions from that." He added and the dwarf grinned.

"Well you certainly know how to speak like the nobility."

"My family did away with the nobility years ago, but that didn't stop them from still being made Thrain for life. I was trained in the possibility that I might one day become Thrain, but even before the company showed up I had no interest in the position."

"So they are like hobbit kings?"

"Yes somewhat, but whatever they choose to do, has to go through the high, middle and low councils." Bilbo said.

"Sounds entirely too confusing."

"It often does to people who aren't familiar with Hobbit governance." Bilbo said and smiled. "Admittedly some of your ways are mysterious still to me, for example why is giving your family a blow to the head considered a warm welcome?" He asked and the merchant laughed.

"Almost finished, its three silvers for each of the engraved stones, I assumed that you wanted more Azurite and Onyx."

"If you mean the blue and the black ones, yes that's it exactly."

"Alright all told that's five gold, seven silvers." He said and Bilbo paid him.

"Keep the change for your work."

"Much appreciated, but I'll have enough business coming in for a while without. In future don't give extra to a dwarf we find it insulting, you can haggle down though and most do." He said and Bilbo nodded, taking back the silver pieces.

"It was nice talking with you." He said and smiled, before going and buying some simple long silver pieces with hooks on one end, like his daughter used. He then found a nice amount of wood, he had become a passable carver in the years since having his daughter and loosing most of his social status. He also bought some simple blue, black and green stones to inlay the wood and wood varnish. He decided that he would make two sets and Thorin could choose between them. He then found the section for infants and tested some of the clothing.

"Lisia makes the best baby clothes." The merchant said and Bilbo smiled.

"Thank you and I'll be sure to get some there, but they are going to need every day clothes too and underclothing. Your material is made from cotton?"

"Lambs wool and cotton blended, I find it makes a softer weave." She said and Bilbo nodded, making sure the shirts were sturdy, before buying twenty of them in a range of colors and sizes.

"Why do you only have seven colors?"

"For the seven first born sons and the seven guilds." She said and Bilbo nodded. He paid for the baby clothes, before walking to the stall she had pointed out. He smiled at all the adorable little outfits, before getting three baby coats.

"These should last through winter?"

"Take a size up for each, babies like a bit of space my lord." The merchant said and Bilbo nodded.

"Your clothing is very cute, I'll be back after the baby is born and I know if its a little boy or girl." Bilbo said and paid for the warm suits, he already had a blanket made for the baby. Still he found some fur that would look good on the back of it and bought it to stitch on later. He also bought a few soft cuddly toys, he'd have to see if anything from the nursery was still salvageable before buying anything else.

He smiled as he walked back to the elevator and rode up to his rooms. He laughed when he saw Thorin asleep under a pile of blankets on their couch. "You get everything?" Fili asked and set down his book.

"Enough for now." Bilbo said and sat cross-legged pulling out one of the many wire kits Ris had taken to collecting. He had gotten quite a few clasps in order to practice with plain beads.

"Close but its more like this, you loop it then wrap the wire around the looped hole, then add another bead and stick the wire around the hole before wrapping it." He said and Bilbo practiced with the plain beads and copper until he could make them correctly. He then moved back into his room and locked the door, where he worked for the rest of the day, stopping only for food and into the night, when he couldn't see strait, he hid his supplies and crawled into bed next to Thorin, falling asleep quickly.

He woke as Thorin tried to leave the bed quietly the next day and groaned as Thorin sneezed. "I've got a cold."

"Take some of the blue bottle on the shelf." Bilbo said. "It should clear you up right quick."

"Why didn't you use your herb lore on the journey?"

"Because all the herbs I know tend to grow in the Shire, we got these by raven remember?" Bilbo asked and Thorin frowned before nodding. Bilbo smiled at him and kissed his cheek before grabbing his box and going next door. He finished the necklace and went to breakfast. "I have completed my task, a necklace like Princess's Ris' detailing the story of our love, from the moment we met from the moment we are living right now." Bilbo said and smiled at the company, as he took out the necklace and presented it to Fili, Kili and Ris. "I trust that this meets with your approval."

"Its pretty Papa." Ris said. "Look there's me and me again right?"

"Yes Ris, that's you." Bilbo said with a smile. "And here's your sibling." Fili and Kili hadn't said anything yet and he looked anxiously at the boys. "it does meet with your approval doesn't it?"

"Bilbo we never expected you to do anything like this, its amazing and you used the plainer stones, so Thorin could look at it too."

"I did, it belongs to all three of you now, but _if you want to give it to Ris, please wait until she's older._ "

"We'll hang it in the halls of history, if neither of you objects." Fili said and Ris grinned, before nodding, as Kili did the same.

"That's a great idea, but can I see it first?" Dis asked and the necklace was passed around, Bilbo blushed at the praise his friends gave him.

"Please tell me you have some place I can be dry and warm, Bofur, Bombur." Thorin said and Bombur smiled.

"For your next challenge, you will have to defeat me in a pie eating contest."

"My stomach will burst before I do."

"That's why I'm going to be eating five pies, before you have one, to make the odds a bit more even. As for you Bilbo your task will be to bake the pies, with the help of the Princess Ris." Ris grinned.

"I get to help Papa make pies?"

"Thirty should suffice."

"Alright, thirty pies, but is it alright if I have a bit of a nap first?"

"Since when has there been a time limit to this, of course take as long as you need, I'm always hungry. Bombur said and Thorin groaned, the rest of the company and Bilbo burst into laughter. Bilbo went back to bed and slept with Thorin for several more hours, as Thorin said he was tired too.

He then went into the kitchens, which had gotten together a wide variety of fruit, some of which was puzzling to Bilbo. Ris was hopping with excitement, wearing a huge apron. "Alright Ris, you remember how to make pie crust right?" Bilbo asked and watched as she made the crust for the pie and he did the same in his own bowl, until they had seven pie pans filled. "Now what sounds good to you?"

"Apple pie!" Ris said and Bilbo smiled, peeling coring and cutting the apples, before adding cinnamon and sugar to the bowl and filling several pies and putting more pie crust on top. "Smells yummy."

"Ris its not even cooked yet, don't stick your fingers into the bowl until we're done, we've got another batch yet." Bilbo said and made a second batch of apple pies, before going on to making five blueberry and five strawberry.

"Make lemon pie Papa." Ris said and Bilbo smiled, making lemon meringue took longer than the other pies, but he was quite proud of his recipe. He decided that while he was making it, the rest might as well be lemon. The first batch came out and he put in the second and then the third.

"Lets make seven more." Bilbo said and Ris clapped her hands.

"I want blueberry and chocolate and seed cakes."

"Cakes aren't pie, but we can still make them." Bilbo said, enjoying the time with his daughter and off his feet. He made ten more pies and five large seed cakes before ringing a bell, which set off a chain reaction that surprised Bilbo. People swarmed from all around and put the pies and cakes on the high table. "Save some chocolate for me please, Daddy, Uncle Bombur."

"Bilbo I told you to only make thirty, didn't I?"

"Ris likes her pie don't, you Ris and it was so much fun, wasn't it my girl?"

"Yeah! I got to choose the flavors."

"You did a good job, you passed your challenge, and so you want some chocolate left, what else Ris?"

"Blackberry, but I'll only have a piece of both right Papa?"

"Yes, remember the blackberry incident?" Bilbo said and Ris nodded. "That's why you shouldn't eat pie unless you can hold it in."

"Is Daddy gonna loose his pie like I lost mine?" Ris asked and the table laughed.

"I will try not to, the hammers be upon you Bombur son of Boldur."

"And upon you Thorin son of Thrain."

"Its a super serious pie contest." Bilbo told Ris as Bombur ate five of the pies and Thorin started in , going at it with the narrow-minded determination Bilbo loved and hated about him. People whistled and cheered for their king and it made Bilbo sad that no one was cheering for Bombur, so he started.

"One would think that you would want Bombur to win." Bofur said and Bilbo laughed.

"Of course I want Thorin to win, but it is traditional for the family to cheer for their champion."

"I ember the Proudfeet Maywhether wedding, Uncle Alistair said its not a good wedding, without at least one brawl."

"I'm liking hobbits more and more, Go Bombur clean his clock!" Bofur shouted and the rest of the company joined in, which only doubled Thorin's determination, finally Bombur threw in his napkin.

"I declare you the winner of this contest." He said and everyone cheered as a practically green Thorin grinned.

"You could have gone easier on me, _brother in battle."_

"That wouldn't have been nearly as fun and I let you..." Bombur paused to let out a tremendous burp that made Ris giggle.

"You didn't say excuse me." She said after a moment.

"To dwarves belching at a meal is a complement." Bombur said and Ris nodded.

'That doesn't mean that you can't get away with not having good manners."

"It is good manners for us Bilbo." Thorin pointed out.

"Yes well, I want her to have some traditions from my heritage and race!"

"Why they rejected me, they hated me, why should I want anything to do with them?" Ris asked.

"Oh baby, they didn't hate you."

"Really why did they call me mean names and hurt me if they didn't hate me."

"They hurt you?" Thorin demanded.

"A boy hit me a few times, but I told on him and he got into trouble. They didn't like you either Papa, why do you always defend them and pretend to be like them."

"They are my people Ris, before I met Thorin they were the only race I ever knew. Hobbits are actually more inclusive then dwarves, although they do have a tendency to reject what doesn't align with their idea of normal and I'm sorry for that."

"We include you." Bombur said.

"Yes, now you do, but you didn't at first, you would always talk in Khudzul about me. I might not have known the language, but I can recognize my own name. Is it too much to ask that my daughter grow up with at least a modicum of hobbit respectability?"

"What precisely is respectability?" Thorin asked.

"Its boring." is replied and Bilbo burst into tears.

"Ris say sorry to your Papa." Thorin said.

"Sorry Papa, but it is, its not fun like fighting, or stone work, or the stories or games my teachers play with me."

"It might not be fun, but soon your lessons won't only be fun, or entertaining. We cannot go through life doing things only for our own amusement."

"Why?"

"Because sometimes the things that are not fun, are also the things most worthwhile." Thorin said and Ris nodded, before hugging Bilbo.

"I'm sorry Daddy." She said and Bilbo smiled.

"Its alright little one, it just hurts me a bit that you're not interested in the things I love and think are important."

"That's silly you don't like fighting, or gem crafting, but it doesn't hurt me." Ris said.

"Actually making that necklace was fun." Bilbo said and smiled at his daughter. "Maybe we could learn together."

"Like we learn _the tongue_ together Papa?" She asked and Bilbo smiled, he had his own tutor and they took things at a different pace than with Ris' lessons, but he liked practicing with his daughter and he liked the sounds of the dwarven language.

"Yes exactly like that, but your still going to learn to be nice to people you don't like and practice your hobbit manners.

"Oh okay, Varlis showed me some musical instruments today and she said I got to choose one."

"How exciting, so what did you pick, or have you chosen?"

"I want to play the harp and the flute like you and Daddy."

"That sounds like fun, but pick which one you like best, Daddy and I won't be insulted if its not ours."

"Wait you play the flute, how come you never told us that?"

"Because I took it up after our adventure, I liked the sound of it and wanted to learn to play one."

"Did you bring it with you?"

"No actually I didn't bring a lot of stuff, but I left the house with my cousins and I don't think they would mind if I got a few things."

"I'll send a raven in the spring, just write what you want." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled.

"Alright." Bilbo said and helped himself to several pieces of pie, including two blackberry pieces and two chocolate. He smiled as he ate with his daughter, the little girl talking happily about her lessons. He then felt incredibly sleepy and smiled at Thorin and the company. "Is it alright if I leave a bit early?" He asked and they nodded, he left the high table and walked to the rooms they both shared, getting into bed and falling asleep within moments.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

He woke up the next day with Thorin's snoring in his ear and Ris' soft breathing and smiled. He wondered how Ris had argued her way into their bed again, but decided that it didn't matter. He yawned and kissed his daughter's forehead before closing his eyes and drowsing for a while.

He woke up fully as a servant entered the room and rang the small bell to wake them for the day. He smiled as Ris turned in his arms and kissed him on the cheek, as Thorin kissed him on the forehead. "There's my sneaky sleepy lass, how did you get into Daddy and Papa's bed?" Bilbo asked with a smile.

"Daddy let me last night, after he drank lots and lots of beer with my uncles."

"Oh really, are you feeling alright Daddy?" Bilbo asked and Thorin groaned.

"I'm fine, my head just hurts a bit, so are you looking forward to your first Durin's day Rosie?"

"Yes Daddy, Varlis told me all about it and Barlin taught me the blessing."

"Really now, why don't you tell it to me?"

" _Bless Durin's sons and guard us through winter night and to spring time light. Mahuel watch over your children and protect them in the cold days ahead, allow not for forge or fie going out or for people to doubt all the things you do. Bless us all from young to old, as friendships are made and stories told."_

"That was very good Ris."

"Thanks Daddy, did you understand it Papa?" Ris asked and Bilbo smiled

"Yes I understood it, it was very pretty Ris." Bilbo said and Ris nodded.

"Thanks Papa, can you braid my hair today, like you used to?" Ris asked and Bilbo smiled.

"The flowers have all gone to sleep Ris, but I can braid your hair like I used to, without flowers." Bilbo said and Ris nodded.

"Thank you Papa." She said and Bilbo stood up, stretching, he felt a shock as his stomach seemed to jounce with the movement. Ris had never kicked this hard at three months, he frowned, before deciding that the baby was just more active than Ris.

He smiled at Thorin and his daughter, before sitting in a chair and brushing out Ris's hair after she put on one of her dresses. "I have Varlis today and she said we're going to have a dwarven tea party." Ris said and Thorin smiled

"That will be fun." He said and Ris nodded, as he helped her put on her dress. Bilbo winced again as the baby kicked him again, but this time it was in two different places, something that the baby shouldn't be able to do. Bilbo paused, twins weren't unheard of in his family, but he'd never thought he'd have them. Ris had been a handful and he couldn't imagine handling two infants at once, he rubbed his belly.

"Alright?"

"I'm fine, the baby is just excited today." Bilbo said and smiled at Thorin and his daughter. Ris put her hand to Bilbo's stomach.

"You be nice to Papa baby." Ris said and Bilbo laughed, as she smiled when she felt the baby kicked. "It tickled my hand." She said and Bilbo smiled.

"That's because it likes its big sister."

"I'm gonna be a really good big sister to it Papa." Ris said and grinned at Bilbo, before sitting down. Bilbo smiled and gently braided his daughter's hair. "Thanks Papa, what you going to do today?"

"Lets see what your uncles and aunts have come up with." Bilbo said with a smile, before changing out of his nightwear and into one of Thorin's shirts. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all, but you might want to go down to the market and get some better fitting clothes." Thorin said with a smile and Bilbo nodded.

"I might at that, well lets go." He said and walked with his family to the dining hall. Almost everyone in the hall looked like they were nursing hangovers and Bilbo smiled at his friends. "So what's today's challenge?"

"You will be making twenty hair beads Bilbo, ten for you and ten for Thorin. Thorin you will be making a flower crown, you can both choose any material you wish for your project." Gera and Dis smiled at Bilbo and Thorin. "We thought that you could make something special and an important part to wedding ceremonies for both your people.

"Sounds excellent and this way the council can still meet if I buy supplies quickly enough." Thorin said and the company smiled.

"That's why the kitchens made _hot pots_."

"What are hot pots?" Bilbo asked.

"Dwarven pastries, which can be eaten on the run." Thorin said and grinned at Bilbo. "They are dough that has meat, potatoes and a variety of other things inside, they are usually spicy, but I trust that they made some mild for you." Bilbo's mouth watered at the word spice and he reached forward and grabbed six of the pastries as the company stared at him and bit into one. His eyes watered and his tongue burned but he smiled.

"Can't abide spice normally, but you dwarves and your spices." Bilbo said and patted his stomach. "What the little rocky sprout wants, it gets."

"I thought I was your little rocky sprout Papa." Ris said and Bilbo smiled.

"You were and are, but so is your baby sibling." Bilbo said with a smile.

"Rocky sprout?" Thorin said with an eyebrow raised and Bilbo smiled.

"Before hobbits are born, their mothers call them sprout, I remembered the myth you told me about Durin's sons, so when I was pregnant with Ris, I called her my rocky sprout." He said and continued to eat the pastry. "We should get going, be nice to Varlis, alright Ris?"

"Yes Papa, love you Papa, love you Daddy." Ris said and kissed both their cheeks, Bilbo smiled as they walked together to the market, before splitting up. Bilbo still had the wood but realized that he didn't have any of his other tools, so he got some from a woodcarver's stall. He decided that he'd carve into the wood drawings of what were important to both him and Thorin, then get someone to pour silver into the grooves if possible. He stopped next by who everyone said was the best metal smith and asked if such a thing could be done, demonstrating what he wanted on a piece of wood and experimenting with the smith until he got what he wanted.

"Do you want the rest of the bead to be metal as well?"

"Perhaps silver and bronze, silver for the carvings, bronze for the beads?"

"That will look nice and not call to him as much as other metal. Can I use your idea?"

"Depends if you know carving, I have no objection to you doing something similar if you can though." Bilbo said and smiled at the silver smith. "Only I want it to be a surprise." He said and the dwarf nodded and told him that it would cost ten gold for the materials and time he spent on the project. Bilbo went next to the stone market and chose small stones in as many colors as he could think of for his project. After that he went to the clothing stalls. "I need to see your maternity clothing."

"Of course, it's an honor to serve you, but there is a finer shop down the way."

"Thank you." Bilbo said and went to the other shop, he found the clothing he wanted in a variety of colors and some looked fairly good even. He bought several warm shirts in layers and a good overcoat lined in fur, before going over to a message boy. "Boy, find King Thorin and ask if he thinks any of the baby furniture in the nursery is still useable." He told the boy who looked wide eyed, before nodding as Bilbo handed him two coppers, having been told the adequate fee for delivering messages. The boy ran off and returned a short while later.

"He says that they should be fine, as they were made from stone and you only need to get replacement cushions for them."

"Thank you lad." Bilbo said and smiled, before going to where the baby things were kept. He saw several stone cribs and mattress pads for them in a variety of sizes. "Could I special order something?"

"Of course." The store clerk said and Bilbo smiled.

"I want an alternating pattern of Durin's axes and this flower." Bilbo drew a flower on a piece of paper. "I assume that the sizes are the largest pads possible."

"I think they would be." The store merchant said and Bilbo paid him for the work, before taking out the pastries and eating them. He walked through the market and suddenly realized that he hadn't made applesauce yet and went to get ingredients. He was shocked by the price of apples, but paid getting a quarter of a barrel full and paying an apprentice to deliver it to the kitchens. He noticed how many people were thin in the markets, several were waiting around hoping for message work Bilbo thought, while others advertised things in Khudzul. Bilbo frowned at seeing children go hungry and decided to do something about, despite what the dwarves might say. It was clear why people were going hungry soon, as the prices for food in the market were easily twenty times as much as people charged in Hobbiton. Bilbo decided that the best course of action would be to build a winter garden, but he needed to convince Thorin of the need for it and the use of one of the forges. Bilbo smiled at his plan and went to the council door. He knocked and was granted entry.

"I've come to lay a matter before the king."

"So what's bothering you Bilbo?" Thorin asked and Bilbo looked at Thorin hopefully.

"I want to take a forge for my own personal use."

"Why would you need an entire forge?" A dwarf Bilbo never met demanded.

"Put simply some of the less fortunate dwarves can't afford the prices in the market place, I suggest that we grow a winter garden."

"A garden?" Someone demanded and then came the shouts from all around.

"Bilbo while I value your care for my people, you are pregnant."

"I'm pregnant yes, not incapable or on my deathbed." Bilbo snapped. "Pregnant hobbits have been gardening for centuries, actually its good for both barer and child."

"You are to be the consort Mr. Baggins, such things are beneath your station." The same dwarf from earlier said and Bilbo glared at him.

"What if someone said that you could not practice your craft, that you had to obtain from wearing any gem or metal, if you could never touch rock? For that's what you are telling me, as necessary as stone and metal are to you, grass and green growing things are to me. My hands ache to be in the earth again and I wish to help my people. What sort of consort would I be, if I didn't help my husband to see to the well being of his people, as much as I was capable. What sort of lesson would I be teaching my children, that it is alright to turn a blind eye to the plight of one's neighbor? I think not, that's not something I ever want my daughter to believe, or those children that haven't yet been born to me to understand. If anything is beneath my station, its this, letting others starves when it is within my power to help them."

"Very well Bilbo, you will have your forge and all the help you need building a garden, but you will also have twenty guards with you at all times." Thorin said and Bilbo nodded.

"That is fair, I will agree to be guarded in exchange for this." Bilbo said, he had been balking at the idea of guards for months and seeing Thorin's relief at his agreement made Bilbo sorry that he ever had.

"When do you wish to start?"

"Hot boxes can be planted at any time, so after the tasks are complete." Bilbo replied. "I'll grow some of the more hearty plants." He added and walked away from the council and to his room. First he shaped the wood into the beads he wanted, using one of Thorin's as a guide, he was surprised at the knock at his door and quickly hid the beads in a box, as well as the carving tools. "Yes?"

"Its time for midday meal." The voice said and Bilbo smiled, his stomach had never gotten used to eating five meals a day, so he'd gone to eating larger portions three meals a day. He went to the dining hall and sat beside Thorin, hearing the guard tramping around him. He realized how quickly having guards would get old to him and sighed, before kissing Ris on the forehead and Thorin on the cheek.

"So how was your morning?" Bilbo asked Ris who was opening and closing a fan.

"Varlis gave me this and taught me secret fan waves, I'm not to tell boys what they mean." Ris said and Bilbo smiled.

"Ah yes, women and their fans, has she taught you how to hit someone with one yet?"

"No I got to learn the language first, then Varlis says I can learn how to fight with em. She said she'd teach Papa too, because he makes babies and he's going to be the consort."

"That sounds like fun Ris, but maybe I should get my own teacher?" Bilbo said and Thorin nodded.

"Its a good idea, if your interested in it and a woman would be willing to teach you."

"I can teach him, it will give us time to bond." Dis said and smiled. "My sewing circle will miss me but I think they will manage." She added and Bilbo smiled.

"I'd be honored to have you teach me Dis." Bilbo said. "When do you want to start?"

"After the tasks and the wedding, can't have you distracted."

"Alright, but I'm also going to be planting a garden."

"Really, you didn't mention it before."

"I hadn't planned on it before." Bilbo said. "So why are the prices in the markets so high?"

"Because men charge so much and then the merchants double that as is custom. Most of the poorer folk go into Dale despite the bad weather, just to get food in winter." Thorin said. "A few winters when the lads were young and work scarce we had to walk for days to the nearest settlement for men."

"That's ridiculous." Bilbo said and frowned. "Why has it gone on like this for so many years."

"Because its assumed that dwarves are rich, when we range in wealth." Thorin said. "Men make their prices high believing that all dwarves are extremely wealthy and can afford the prices."

"I see." Bilbo said and frowned. "Well can something be done about it?"

"Not easily, merchants would baulk, as they will when they hear about your gardens."

"I don't care what they think." Bilbo said. "I can't afford to, not when there are dwarflings that need the food I'll be growing."

"You can't give it away though Bilbo."

"I know, but I can charge less for it, can't I?" Bilbo demanded and Thorin nodded. "Three silver per item would be apt?"

"It would be insulting."

"That's what things usually cost in Hobbiton." Bilbo said.

"But you aren't in Hobbiton, you're in Erebor, make it at least a gold Bilbo."

"Alright, I suppose you know better than I do." Bilbo said with a frown, before helping himself to a thick hot soup that smelled wonderful.

"Still wanting spice _little stone?"_ Thorin asked Bilbo's stomach affectionately and Bilbo laughed as his stomach roiled at the sound of Thorin's voice and his hand.

"Someone knows their _Daddy_." Bilbo said and his friends laughed, as he grinned and grabbed a chunk of bread. he ate that and the soup, before taking another two bowls. "Well I'm going down to the market to get some things. I suppose we'll have to send to Dale for potting soil and seeds."

"I'll get someone on that, what do you need to get?"

"Seeds, bins and soil, not to mention something for watering them, if a watering can can't be found." Bilbo said.

"What sort of seeds?"

"Potato starts, carrots, wheat, rye and beans." Bilbo replied and Thorin nodded.

"Alright and these bins?"

"Five feet by three feet, with wood bottoms, they should be about thee feet high." Bilbo replied and again Thorin nodded.

"You've got all of that Halgir?"

"Yes mi lord." Halgir said. "Should I also hire some men that we can trust to help Lo-..."He paused at Bilbo's scowl. "Bilbo with his project?"

"Yes please do so." Thorin said and Bilbo grinned at Thorin, before standing.

'Well I'm going to get back to it." He said and headed back to his rooms, taking out his beads and over the next several days carved out two sets of the following; Rose, a Thorn and a Thistle, as well as a Lilly and a Lilac. He then carved the rune for always together into another bead, followed by the axes of Durin and a small door with a rune on it. He also carved a small portrait of himself and Thorin and a portrait of Rose as a baby, copying one he had made years ago. He then carved the Company onto a bead, as well as a simple portrait of Kili, Fili and Dis. Finally he carved the lonely mountain itself and added a thrush flying in the foreground. He then gathered together the stones and set them to either side of each of the pieces, save the one with the company on them. He smiled at his work, before going down to the market and handing them over to the silver smith, instructing which stones he wanted placed where. The metal smith praised his work and made Bilbo smile. Bilbo didn't want to admit it, but he felt proud of the beads he had made. "If you ever wish to collaborate on something, I'd give you half of what I make on these."

"That sounds like fun, however, I'm going to be a bit too busy for that in a few months." Bilbo said with a smile.

"That's always the way with new bairns isn't it?" He asked and smiled at Bilbo. "Do you have any idea of what you are carrying?"

"No, I'd be happy with either."

"They'll be having dwarven names though right?"

"And hobbit ones, I was thinking dwarven first names and hobbit middle names." Bilbo said with a smile. "My little girl is Rose Ris, but she hates being called Rose." Bilbo said and grinned. "She's a stubborn lass who takes after her Daddy, I hope the next one will at least take a bit after me."

"I'm sure they will, congratulations by the way, the whole kingdom is delighted."

"I'm glad though I wish the baby wasn't quite so active, Ris never was, but this ones a right little jumping bean." Bilbo said and the merchant laughed.

"It was an honor doing business with you, come back any time."

"I might at that, I love the way the clasps turned out." Bilbo said and the smith beamed. Bilbo smiled as he walked back with the finished beads to the dining room and presented the box to Gera and Dis. "I have completed my task, I hope that you will find my work satisfactory."

Gera and Dis opened the box and stared down at the hair clasps in surprise. "How did you make these I've never seen the like."

"I got a master smith to apply the metal to wood beads I carved." Bilbo replied.

"You carved these, let me see Bofur said and Bilbo smiled as Bofur was passed the box. "These are very fine, did you make the beads as well?"

"I did, I used some of Thorin's hair beads as a point of reference."

"What's with all the plants?" Boufur asked.

"I was thinking of giving the children flowers for middle names, Lilac, Thorn, Thistle and Lilly."

"They are very pretty and I suppose your going to choose a name once the child is born?"

"Yes, but I have a few favorites, but I want to ask you all first if its alright for me to use them."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because I like the name Frerin for a boy." Bilbo said and to his dismay Thorin had a coughing fit and Dis' eyes filled with tears. "If it bothers you, I can change the name."

"No I'd like my son to be named for my brother, Frerin Thistle, or Frerin Thorn both have a nice sound to it."

"Good, I'm glad you like them, so it would be alright if I used some of the old names right?"

"Of course, what were you thinking for a girl?" Dis asked.

"Lis or Vis I was considering, Lis Lilac, or Vis Lilly."

"Both sound pretty." Ris said. "But I like Lis Lilac better than Lilly, lilies are stinky."

"Yes but your grandmother loved lilies and I think of her every time I see them."

"Oh okay, what was Grandpa like Daddy, I know he died in a big battle, so he was a warrior right?"

"Yes he was, but more than that, he was a kind man and a wonderful Father. He taught me everything I know about blacksmithing and through me, he taught Fili and Kili as well."

"Blacksmithing looks like fun, but my teacher guards say that I'm not to go near any lit forges."

"And right they are, lit forges are dangerous places for little girls to be in." Bilbo said.

"But they said when I turn twenty they will teach me how to make my own ring mold, its six years from now though, so I'll learn a lot before that."

"So how was your lesson today?"

"Today we talked about Nain the first, he was a great warrior and his axe was this big!" Ris through out her hands and the table laughed. "He lived in Nogrod, before the war that destroyed it and he was in a really big war that destroyed his city and he died in the battle, but his son survived and started a migration of the rest of those that escaped the city's destruction."

"Well you didn't learn that all today, did you Ris?"

"No, I learned about how he gathered the people together today. _Be it not a day to mourn our dead, but to rejoice in the living. As long as I have air to fill my lungs and a war cry on my lips, I will serve my people. For I consider all those that wish to follow me mine and together we shall find a new land and make it our own."_

"I can't believe you remember all that child."

"Papa says I have a good memory for words, that its one of the few things that makes him know I'm his and not some little dwarfling that crawled into his cabbages one night." Ris said and laughed along with the company.

"Well of the two of us, she's more clearly Thorin's daughter." Bilbo said and smiled at Thorin and Ris, before yawning.

"Are you sleepy Papa?" Ris asked and Bilbo smiled.

"A little but not too bad." Bilbo said and smiled at his daughter.

"Well enough to do my challenge?"

 _"Oarve anneange ozzin."_ Bifur said and Gimli nodded _._

"You're both to make something for the baby." Gimli said.

"I've already made something for the baby, will what I made do?"

"Yes if you get it." Gimli said and Bilbo smiled, he'd worked hard on the blanket and hiding it from Thorin had been a challenge. He went to his rooms and got it out , before handing it to Gimli and Bifur."

"Our challenge next, Bilbo you will need to learn simplified dwarven marriage vows, in khudzul and Thorin you will have to learn about the traditions associated with Hobbit weddings.

"Oh we just marry under the party tree, in front of family and friends. Can we get married under a tree and make our own vows?"

"I don't see why not, we can still do the dwarven ceremony, we'll just light big fires and do it outside." Bilbo smiled at Thorin.

"Alright, I'll talk with my tutor about them tomorrow." Bilbo said and yawned. "If you would excuse me, the little one is wearing me out."

"Of course, why don't you go to bed too Ris."

"But I'm not sleepy." Ris complained and the company smiled.

"Now you want to be a big strong warrior lass one day don't you?" Varlis asked and Ris nodded. "Then all the big strong warrior lasses got sleep growing up, that's how they got so big."

"I'm not gonna get as big as you though, will I?

"I don't rightly know lass, you might be a bit shorter than me, but taller than your Papa."

"It would be strange to be as tall as Papa." Ris said and Bilbo chuckled.

"I only come up to most dwarves chests, so I think you'll be taller than me at least. You won't ever reach man height, but remember what I told you?"

"That no matter how tall or small a person may be, it should be what's inside that matters to me. But Papa, inside a person is really gross and if I kept going inside a person..."

"Wait you thought I meant literally inside?" Bilbo said and chuckled. "No lass, what matters if they are kind and just and loyal, no matter how small or tall someone is, that's what you look for in your friends."

"Oh alright." Ris said and took Bilbo's hand, Bilbo smiled down at his daughter and walked with her into his bedchamber, he helped get Ris settled into bed. "Stay Papa, just till I fall asleep."

"Alright Ris." Bilbo said and smiled, getting into bed beside her, he kissed her forehead and closed his eyes.

He woke up to the sound of crashing and moved away from his daughter, glad she slept soundly. He wondered briefly why the guards hadn't stopped the threat to their quarters. Then he saw Thorin being supported by a swaying Fili and Kili.

"Pass around the ale, after I left?" Bilbo asked with a smile.

"Bilbo there's two of you!" Fili said and giggled.

"Stop moving." Kili complained and Bilbo smiled.

"So you two mind sharing a bed? Because there are only two and I don't think Ris will mind sharing with her Daddy and me. That way you won't trip in the corridor and crack your fool heads."

"Not fools, celebrating mar-mar...Thingy you and Uncle."

"I know lad, help me get Thorin to bed and then I'll help you to the other room." He said and the boys nodded. Bilbo smiled and escorted them both into the bedroom, he sat Thorin on a chair and took off his overcoat and britches, before settling him into bed. He then turned to Fili and Kili who were both swaying on their feet and grinning at him as Thorin started to snore loudly. Bilbo sighed and helped both boys out of the room, making sure they didn't trip over anything while getting to their room. "So do you need help with the buttons?" Bilbo asked and they both nodded. "Sit on the bed." He told them and started unbuttoning Kili's jacket, mid way through both princes were fast asleep. Bilbo shook his head and took off both their coats and their belts and shoes, before going out into the dining hope in what he suspected was the vain hope that one of his friends was still sober. However he only got to the door of the room, before the smell of spilt ale made his stomach turn. He ran quickly in the opposite direction and towards the balcony.

"Bilbo?" Gera said, following Bilbo to the balcony. "Are you alright?"

"Can't stand the smell of ale, Fili and Kili fell asleep before I can get them into bed and now they aren't waking up and I didn't want to ask one of the guards to help."

"I'd be glad to help, I didn't feel like drinking tonight after the terrible hangover I had yesterday." Gera said and Bilbo smiled at her. He liked Gera, but he'd been busy the last three months with his khudzul teacher, he found paying the dwarf for the extra hours to be rather a simple process and he wanted to surprise his friends, by his knowledge. He smiled at the memory of his instructors surprise at what he had learned in a very short amount of time.

He liked the sound of khudzul, the way the words sounded as they were spoken and how they flowed off the tongue. He walked with Gera back to his rooms and she helped him to settle the princes back into bed. "If you like we could talk sometime, Dis and I get together often."

"That sounds like fun, though I'm a bit busy at the moment with my lessons."

"We can help you."

"I'm to the point where I can carry on a conversation, I talk with my instructor and there is about one word in seventy I don't understand still."

"Only one in seventy and he's a dwarven scholar they like to use big words."

"I've been taking extra lessons, I wanted to know it before the baby is born." Bilbo said and smiled.

"That's wonderful, so that's why you asked Thorin for more gold?"

"Yes, why do you think I asked?" Bilbo said referring to the council meeting a few months before, where Thorin agreed to give him a small stipend.

"Well to get things for your wardrobe, then again I suppose you wear pretty much the same maternity wear day in and day out."

"I don't see the point in purchasing more clothing than I need or even want. After all these clothes are designed to be worn by pregnant dwarven woman, the fabric is very loose all over." Bilbo said. "I have to belt around my underarms, so the shirt doesn't fall off my shoulders." He added and Gera smiled.

"If you ever need someone to talk with, I'm available. I'm honored that you would share a secret with me."

"Ris is an excellent judge of character and well its well known that you are Dis' confidant. I thought that it would be safe enough to talk to you about this." Bilbo said and smiled. "Anyway I'd rather work on other things with my tutor, other than words I already know and I'll most probably already know most of the words of the vows."

"That makes sense, so you want me to tell them to you?" Gera asked and Bilbo nodded. " _Shaped from the same stone cleaved in two before we were born. My soul is your soul and your soul is mine for all of time. Throughout all of time and space, we have managed to find one another, like a gem and a setting we fit together. You are mine and I am yours, I am yours and you are mine. I dreamed of you, before I knew who you are and now my days and nights are consumed by thoughts of you. I will be the best husband to you that I can be that does not mean that we will never argue. Still I will stay with you through both feast and famine, wealth and poverty. I do not care if you come to me miner or royal, I will take you as you are and bless the day we met. You are the only one ever for me, as I am for you. Together we shall share our days and even in dark times they will be happy ones, for I will have you beside me. I will bare your children and nurture them as they grow, loving them for who they are and who they will become. We will live our days out together, surrounded by the people we love and who love us. When we die, we will go to the halls of waiting and spend eternity together, for once found our two halves of the same stone will never be parted."_

"Can I change some of the wording on the last?"

"These words are sacred." Gera said. "I wouldn't suggest it."

"Alright then I'll make my own vows as well then." Bilbo said and smiled, before going to the halls and holding his breath. "I have finished learning the vows, can you come out for a moment and listen to them?" He asked Balin and Ori and they both nodded. Bilbo smiled and recited the words to his friends, who were both swaying. They grinned when he finished and Bilbo smiled in return.

"You have passed our test." They both said and Bilbo smiled, before yawning.

"Enjoy your revelry." Bilbo said. "I'm for bed."

"Goodnight Bilbo." They both said and Bilbo smiled, before going back to the bed he shared with Thorin and moving him so he could fit into bed as well. Unfortunately Thorin smelled like the bottom of a barrel and groaning, Bilbo went to his daughter's rooms, cradling her in his arms and breathing in her sweet scent before falling into sleep


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Bilbo awoke the next morning and smiled at Ris who was stroking his head. "Good your up it took ages to wake you, cause I didn't want to make the baby sad." She said and Bilbo smiled at his daughter.

"So what can I do for you, my _little gem_?" He asked her and she grinned.

"That's what Daddy calls me, silly Papa."

"Just because its what Daddy calls you, doesn't mean your Papa can't call you that too." Bilbo said and tickled her, she squirmed and started laughing. "Oh no what will the brave girl do now that the dreaded dancing fingers of death have attacked."

" _The axes be upon you!"_ His daughter said and tickled him in response, soon they were both gasping for breath from laughing. He heard several groans and smiled.

"Hey baby, I think Daddy would love it if you jumped on him, while singing the gem song."

"The one that's really pretty, I like my gem classes the best!"

"Exactly." Bilbo said and chuckled, admittedly he didn't normally feel all that evil, but considering that Thorin had forced him out of the bed by smelling like an alehouse it was only justice.

" _A is for Aconlite with a silver gleam its sure to be seen both day and night, B is for Beryl it shines when ever able, C is for Calcite if you think its yellow, you'd be right."_ And on it went as Bilbo held back sniggers and his little girl sang to her captive audience. Midway through the song, Fili dove out into the hall and to the bathroom. Bilbo felt a bit bad, for encouraging his little girl to yell out the gemstone song at the top of her lungs, but not so bad that he wanted his precious angel to stop. " _Z is for Zircon, now my song is done, it was a lot of fun, so sing it with me and remember your stones right."_

"That was very good _gem,_ you learned the entire song and it was very well done." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled. "Very well done indeed, you spoke it like a true dwarrowdam, pretty soon you will be as fluent in khudzul as any lass your age." He smiled as his daughter beamed at the compliment. "Now let me get dressed and then we can go to breakfast together, before you start your lessons and Daddy has to go to the council."

"Okay Daddy." Ris said and Bilbo went into the same room as Thorin, as Ris went outside. Bilbo laid out his clothing for the day and smiled at Thorin.

"Sorry but I can't kiss you, not until you stop smelling like old ale, its all I can do to stay in the same room."

"Fair enough, I know how ale affects you, I'm sorry Bilbo."

"Its alright, I spent the night with our daughter, it was nice sleeping with her." He added and finished choosing an outfit that would fit, as Thorin stepped into the bath.

"I wish you could have slept beside me."

"You can once I give birth, or if you take a bath after indulging." Bilbo said and Thorin laughed.

"You aren't going to ask me not to indulge?"

"I wouldn't be so foolish as to suggest that you don't drink, because it makes me sick. You deserve to let go every once in a while, allowing yourself to have fun isn't something I'll ever criticize."

"Even if I make a drunken fool of myself?"

"I like you when your drunk, your much more silly then." Bilbo grinned at Thorin in the bath and decided that the lavender soap stopped the smell of alcohol enough for him to bathe with Thorin.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting in with you, I'd thought that would be obvious." Bilbo said with a grin, taking off his nightshirt and getting into the bath with Thorin. Seeing Thorin's appreciative gaze made his groin swell , as he looked Thorin into the eyes and grinned. "Even though you don't wish to penetrate me while I'm with child, doesn't mean we can't do other things."

"But I need to go to breakfast and the council, our daughter is waiting."

"What I have in mind won't take long." Bilbo grinned wickedly, before sucking at Thorin's dwarf hood. He chuckled as Thorin moaned in surprise and pleasure.

"Wha?" Thorin asked as Bilbo took him deeper into his mouth, rolling his balls in his hands. Thorin's head arched backward in pleasure making Bilbo smile. He continued to suckle, until a few moments later Thorin gave a cry and spilled his seed into Bilbo's mouth. Bilbo swallowed it and licked his lips, before turning to his one and kissing him deeper. "By Mahuel Bilbo what was that?"

"You mean dwarves don't suck the seed of their lovers?"

"I've never heard of what you preformed on me, we stay with our own kind, can I try that on you?" Thorin asked and Bilbo grinned.

"Thought you would never ask." Bilbo said and Thorin laughed, before hesitantly taking Bilbo's cock into his mouth. Bilbo groaned as Thorin sucked at him, he came fairly quick and chuckled as Thorin reared back in surprise, cum all over his face and beard. Bilbo smiled and gently wiped at his lover's face with a washcloth, before Thorin shampooed his hair and beard. Bilbo kissed him softly and gently and Throin ran his fingers through Bilbo's hair washing it gently. Bilbo sighed and leaned into Thorin's touch, as they finished bathing together. Bilbo dried off and put his clothes back on. "Where should I go to cut my hair, its getting a bit long."

"No one here would cut it for you, to have your hair short is a mark of shame within dwarven culture. Please don't cut it Bilbo."

"Soon enough its going to be puked on, pulled and smell like vomit constantly." Bilbo said. "Its hard enough getting little fingers away from my hair when its short, let alone long." He added and Thorin smiled at the thought.

"I'll help you braid it." Thorin offered and Bilbo nodded.

"Alright." Bilbo said and sat on a stool by the tub, he smiled as Thorin gently braided his hair into an incredibly complicated dwarven style. "You're going to have to unbraid this soon, if you don't I think its going to be horribly tangled."

"Of course I'll braid it again for you, any time you want." Thorin said and Bilbo kissed his cheek, before getting out of the bathroom and going to breakfast.

"You look very fine Bilbo." Gera said and Bilbo grinned.

"Thorin did it for me, I was going to cut it off because it was getting long, but apparently that's some form of dwarven taboo. I suppose that makes sense considering that whenever I got near Ris with the sheers she screamed bloody murder."

"You cut our daughter's hair?"

"Once and that was a fight to remember, after that I decided it wasn't worth the bother and if she wanted her hair long I'd just make sure that it didn't get horribly tangled."

"You cut my hair Papa?" Ris asked and frowned. "I don't remember it."

"You were a baby at the time sweetheart." Bilbo said.

"You cut a baby's hair?" Thorin demanded.

"Well I didn't know I was hurting her, did I? I only did it because she'd scream and fight me, every time I tried to brush it. However trying to cut it was worse." Bilbo frowned at the memory.

"Of course it would be, if someone kicked you in the balls, would you fight them Bilbo, or just sit still and take it."

"It hurts that badly?" Bilbo demanded.

"If its cut yes, but improper brushing hurts as well, dwarven hair is very sensitive." Thorin said and Bilbo frowned.

"I would never deliberately hurt our daughter."

"I know that Bilbo." Thorin assured him and Bilbo smiled. "I've nearly finished all my trials, I thought it better that you saw them the day of our wedding."

"That would be lovely Thorin."

"You just have ours left, you need to learn four dwarven lullabies Bilbo and you need to learn four hobbit ones."

"I can help with that!" Ris said and clapped her hands excitedly. "Papa sings them all the time to me and so does Daddy." Ris said and Bilbo smiled.

"I'd be glad to have your help Ris." Bilbo said. "Maybe we can sing them together to the baby, once it is born."

"Yes! I'm going to be the best big sister ever!" Ris said and everyone laughed. "Why's that funny."

"Sweetie it wasn't, we're all just glad your happy about the baby." Bilbo said. "Why don't you sing the flower song for Daddy?"

"Okay, darkness falls across the meadows, flowers close their petals, waiting for the sun to rise. Rest my child, rest my love, know that you are guarded by moon above. Sleep now my child, like the petals close your eyes, in the morning, like the sun you will rise. For now dear child, rest, in the morning, you can run through the meadow, brushing off the dew. Now it is night, so we must sleep till the sunlight." Ris said and smiled at Bilbo. "Did I sing it good Papa?"

"Very good." Bilbo said and then Thorin sang the song and Ris smiled at both of them.

"You got it right Daddy, now its Papa's turn. _Rest my treasure, rest now my gem, so you might sparkle bright in morning light. The moon is high in the sky, all the world is asleep. Rest now my child and in my thoughts you will keep. I will watch over you as you sleep, my precious treasure, my greatest gift, rest for now. In the morning your eyes will lift, together we shall greet the day, for tonight while sun has gone and moon holds sway, rest."_

"That was very beautiful Ris, but can you sing it in Westron, so Papa can understand it?" Bilbo asked.

"But Papa, you know khudzul."

"Just enough to talk to you sweetheart." Bilbo said and Ris repeated the song and Bilbo smiled at her.

"How are your lessons going?" Thorin asked.

" _Slowly."_ Bilbo replied wishing to surprise his friends.

"You seemed to understand the vows well enough." Balin said.

"Gera helped me get them right." Bilbo replied and shrugged.

"It was fun, anytime you want to talk some, I'd love to. Now that Gimli is turning into a young dwarf, I find that I have a lot more time on my hands. We could also do some crafting together, if you aren't too busy with your garden project."

"I should actually start that fairly soon, so what do you have in store for us Nori? Dori?"

"Bilbo you will learn four dwarven dances and Thorin will learn four hobbit dances."

"That sounds like fun!" Bilbo said and grinned at Thorin. "We'll have to figure out time to practice."

"I'm taking the day off, I'm entitled to a bit of time off every once in a while." Thorin said and grinned. "I'd love to know at least one of your traditional dances."

"Me too." Bilbo said and grinned. "So is there an empty hall somewhere we could use."

"I believe the old dance hall can be put to such a purpose." Thorin said and Bilbo grinned, so they went together to a dance hall and some of the company brought along instruments, as Bilbo took out his pipe and taught his friends a hobbit reel. He then grinned at Thorin before clasping hands with the dwarf.

"We'll start slow, just watch my feet and step at the same time, this is the midwinter dance." Bilbo said and started stamping the floor in a pattern, it took Thorin a moment to get it, but soon they were both dancing and laughing. "Good you've got the basics, hobbit dancing is mainly in the feet."

"As would be most things I suppose." Thorin said and Bilbo laughed.

"Possibly." Bilbo said and grinned and did a complicated cross motion and held back his laughter as Thorin nearly fell trying to repeat it. "We'll stick to the easier dances." Bilbo said and grinned. He showed him the hand fasting dance next, having Thorin put up his hand as Bilbo danced around it, his grip never leaving Thorin's hand. "Its supposed to symbolize how no matter how far we may be from each other, at heart we are always connected."

"That's a beautiful sentiment." Thorin said and Bilbo grinned.

"Now its the one we do at the snow melting festival."

"What's that?"

"Its to celebrate the melting of the snow, people make a bit of a market and we dance and sing for a day and a night." Bilbo replied and grinned. "Its my second favorite next to midwinter."

"So what do you do for midwinter?"

"We decorate one of the largest trees in the shire and leave presents under it. People also take saplings inside during autumn and keep them in their houses all winter to help the trees survive. Once midwinter comes, they hang decorations on the leaves and exchange gifts. After we celebrate at home, we go out to the party tree and celebrate with our less immediate family and friends."

"It sounds nice, our midwinter is much the same, except there's the competitions, people compete from all guilds and Thorin judges who wins each event. After that everyone takes out the food they brought and we make this large spread. Then there's the singing and dancing, oh and the ale and food competitions."

"I imagine most aren't good for anything after the ale competition." Bilbo said and his friends all laughed. "Now midsummer and finally I'll teach you a Hobbit drinking dance."

"You have drinking dances?"

"I think all the races do." Bilbo replied and grinned showing Thorin both the dances and then waiting expectantly. Thorin grinned and pounded his chest on one side, then on the other. Bilbo copied him, as he was lead through a complicated dance, which was very male stylistically. They pounded their chests and slapped their legs and stomped their feet, Bilbo gave up his fight to not laugh when the grunting began.

"This is a very traditional dance." Thorin said but his lips were curved in a smile. "Its to show our might."

"Its fun, but do we really have to grunt?" Bilbo asked his eyes dancing with merriment.

"People have been dancing in this manner since my people were first formed. The first dwarves, much like the other races were more primitive than we eventually became." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled.

"So what's the original purpose?"

"Its a mating dance." Thorin said and Bilbo laughed.

"What really?"

"Of course, just because we are from the same stone, doesn't mean you would accept that fact. Before the more modern traditions men would prove their worth to women, once they were of age. Whoever the dwarrowdam's father liked best would merry her. However soon this tradition stopped as dwarrowdams are fiercely independent and refused to have men decide whom they would be marrying. It became a traditional dance for at weddings, as we are two men, we will take it in turn to dance."

"So I'm going to have to shout?"

"If you want to be considered worthy." Thorin said and Bilbo laughed as he winked at him. "It would be nice if you could, at any rate its quite enjoyable. Now here's another one." Thorin said and started spinning round and round with Bilbo in his arms, Bilbo laughed as he followed Thorin's lead and followed the steps. "That's a style of dance that we do during festivals, mostly after people have drunk a fair amount of ale. It becomes a competition as to who can stay up the longest." He said and Bilbo laughed.

"I'm not drunk and it made me dizzy, that must be fun to watch." Bilbo said and his friends smiled.

"Do a knocking game next Uncle." Fili said and Thorin grinned.

"Alright." He said and started to stamp and clap his feet in time to the beat, Bilbo copied him, although he was a bit surprised as Thorin called out instructions to him, as he taught Bilbo a series of claps and arm crosses, while their feet beat out the time. "Now for the _hardest dance._ This one is difficult, but considering how you managed your own dances I think you will be able to do it." Thorin said and Bilbo stared at him as they whirled around slapping, clapping and beating time with their feet. Bilbo had always loved dancing and had been disappointed when his daughter showed little interest in it. He laughed and picked up the pace, as Thorin arched an eyebrow and danced the pattern with Bilbo. Finally they stopped and Bilbo hugged Thorin grinning from ear to ear.

"You both did very well, you have passed the last challenge and won our consent to marry."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next few weeks were very busy for both Thorin and Bilbo. Bilbo started his garden, in addition to constantly going for fittings for his wedding regalia. The things they would be wearing were very dwarven, but Bilbo didn't mind all that much, he had to admit that waistcoats weren't very practical for life in Erebor. He smiled at the thought of people preparing for the Durin's Day celebrations and his wedding to Thorin. He didn't care when they were married and for generations Thorin's family had always been married on that day.

He continued to tend to his plants, until the day before the wedding where he spent all day preparing, he was nervous. He stared at his vows several times hoping that he had understood the words correctly. He mouthed them and decided that whatever happened he would be married to Thorin by tomorrow, so it didn't matter if he didn't have the words he wished to speak to his husband quite right, Thorin would love him regardless.

He smiled as people prepared him for his wedding and went to bed that night with his daughter. He was somewhat surprised that both hobbits and dwarves shared the tradition of sleeping away from their intended the night before. Despite his nervousness, Ris' soft breathing soon lulled him into sleep.

He woke early the next morning, as the servants helped him get on the expansive and expensive robes, which had half a ton of silver on them according to Bilbo. They then had to help Ris into her robes and Bilbo took his daughter's hand.

"Its really heavy." Ris complained and Bilbo chuckled.

"I know, take it up with your Daddy's traditions." Bilbo said and Ris frowned.

"How can I talk to Daddy's traditions?" She asked and Bilbo laughed.

"You can't I didn't mean for you to do it." Bilbo said and winked at the child, who giggled. They walked together to the tree they had decided upon, taking back routes and passages. They arrived as Thorin stared at Bilbo from an alter, the sign of Durin carved into the back, as people from Dale, Erebor and Mirkwood looked on. Bilbo had insisted that they would have a hobbit ceremony and invite people from the surrounding areas before doing another traditionally dwarven ceremony inside the mountain.

"We are gathered today in Yavannah's bounty to celebrate the love between Bilbo Baggins of the Shire and Thorin Oakenshield King of Erebor. Though they have faced many challenges, they prove that love can overcome even the darkest of circumstances. You are our friends and family, kin of the heart, if not of the body, so we invite you to celebrate with us." Balin said and smiled. "There are crowns of pine for those that wish to wear them and ale and food if you so desire. The point of this celebration is to celebrate life and the choice of these two people to live out their lives together. Neither one has chosen the most obvious path to get here today, in fact they have defied the odds many times. So today we celebrate and watch as they dance for the first time, as husbands by the traditions of the Shire."

Bilbo grinned as a fiddle reel started and danced a hobbit foot dance with Thorin who smiled and stared at his eyes the entire time. "You've been practicing." Bilbo said and Thorin grinned.

"Indeed I have been." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled as they finished their dance. Next Bilbo taught everyone a circle dance, Thorin watching bemusedly as he got men elves and dwarves of all ages to dance with him. There was something about Bilbo that was irresistible and Thorin was glad that others saw that quality in his One. He smiled crossing his arms as he watched the dancing. They stayed until midmorning, before going back into the mountain.

They then had a traditional dwarven ceremony, which involved statements of what both would bring to the marriage, how skilled both parties were and whether or not they were each other's One. Four hours later Bilbo's feet were killing him, as he recited " _Shaped from the same stone cleaved in two before we were born. My soul is your soul and your soul is mine for all of time. Throughout all of time and space, we have managed to find one another, like a gem and a setting we fit together. You are mine and I am yours, I am yours and you are mine. I dreamed of you, before I knew who you are and now my days and nights are consumed by thoughts of you. I will be the best husband to you that I can be that does not mean that we will never argue. Still I will stay with you through both feast and famine, wealth and poverty. I do not care if you come to me miner or royal, I will take you as you are and bless the day we met. You are the only one ever for me, as I am for you. Together we shall share our days and even in dark times they will be happy ones, for I will have you beside me. I will bare your children and nurture them as they grow, loving them for who they are and who they will become. We will live our days out together, surrounded by the people we love and who love us. When we die, we will go to the halls of waiting and spend eternity together, for once found our two halves of the same stone will never be parted._

 _Thorin you are more to me than ritual words spoken by rote resuscitation. For that reason although I do swear to do all I said before and gladly, I will speak my own vows to you. I promise to see you as my husband, before my king. To treat you as a man rather than some mysterious leader. To share my life with you, both the good and the bad. I have little to offer and I realize that, but what little I have is yours if you want it. I will listen to you in all things, but I will not blindly follow you simply because I am the more delicate partner. That's what we will be partners in truth and there will only be truth between us. Though I may sometimes keep things from you, such as my knowledge of the tongue, or when my body changes in readiness for a child, I will never again directly lie to you. I will never steal anything save your heart I hope and moments of your time. I will try to understand your ways and customs, without loosing sight of my own and raise our children to know both traditions. I will not force our children to partake in things they have no interest in past the age of thirty and I will spend my days loving you and our family and friends."_ Bilbo smiled at his shocked friends and his grinning daughter.

"That was really pretty Papa, but I didn't understand all the words." She said quietly and Bilbo smiled.

"I'll tell you what I said later." Bilbo promised and Ris nodded.

" _I know not what to say after what you have spoken, although I made my own vows they seem small in comparison to yours. Shaped from the same stone cleaved in two before we were born. My soul is your soul and your soul is mine for all of time. Throughout all of time and space, we have managed to find one another, like a gem and a setting we fit together. You are mine and I am yours, I am yours and you are mine. I dreamed of you, before I knew who you are and now my days and nights are consumed by thoughts of you. I will be the best husband to you that I can be that does not mean that we will never argue. Still I will stay with you through both feast and famine, wealth and poverty. I do not care if you come to me miner or royal, I will take you as you are and bless the day we met. You are the only one ever for me, as I am for you. Together we shall share our days and even in dark times they will be happy ones, for I will have you beside me. I will protect you and our children, loving them for who they are and who they will become. We will live our days out together, surrounded by the people we love and who love us. When we die, we will go to the halls of waiting and spend eternity together, for once found our two halves of the same stone will never be parted._

 _I am a man of few words, those that know me well know this. Still beloved, I promise to try to keep my temper with you, though I cannot promise never to be angry. I promise to try to listen, even though listening can be hard upon occasion. I promise to love and care for our children, to give them the childhood that was stolen from me. I promise that I shall no longer wander, or wonder at what may have been, instead I will look towards the future instead of the past. Although I am a King and that is something I would not change even if I could, I promise I will not be when we are alone together. I promise to be the best husband, friend and father I can be, as well as to do what I believe is right for our kingdom. I promise that I will take your council and listen when you feel you have a better way of doing things, other than that which we have always done. I promise to avoid the lure of metals and the false promises of gleaming gems and golden things. Bilbo you and our daughter are my greatest treasure, to keep you safe and happy there is nothing I won't do. Will you become my husband?"_

 _"Yes!"_ Bilbo said and grinned at Thorin. _"I will take your hand and together we will step down from this dais husbands."_ He said as Fili and Kili took out two boxes, Bilbo gasped at the copper flower wreaths Thorin had created. He knelt as Thorin did and the boys placed them on their heads. They then stepped down from the dais together smiling, as they did music started playing and Bilbo and Thorin started to dance. Then came the food, the kingdom looking expectantly towards the barrels of ale lining the walls. _"I will enjoy the celebrations for a short while longer, before retiring to my garden. The babies don't like ale and I become sick if I so much as smell it. I beg your forgiveness for this shortcoming on my part and assure you that in a short while you can drink and be merry freely. For now however I would appreciate it if you avoided drinking around me."_

 _"Do you think it would help me if I don't drink your highness?"_ A dwarrowdam asked and Bilbo smiled.

 _"It may, but I can't be certain that it will._ " Bilbo replied. _"I know only that I can't stomach smoke or alcohol while I'm pregnant and neither can the rest of my race. Though I think our fertility is more do to us being the creation of the green mother than anything else."_

 _"Do you think praying to the green mother might help?"_

 _"I don't know for certain, it would not hurt I think, but I can't promise that if you act as I do you will have babes."_

 _"Its enough that you would just talk with me, I will have my own child soon and I am worried about somehow harming them."_

 _"What barer doesn't worry?" Bilbo asked with a smile. "I'll be glad when I get to hold it and this will be over, I assure you being a kill joy and being unable to enjoy drink and smoking is as unpleasant for me as it is for you, but I have no desire to be violently ill on the day of my marriage."_

 _"Do you know the dances?"_

 _"Some yes, but not as many as I'd like." Bilbo said and grinned, as Thorin passed him some food. He waited for his friends to fill their plates, before starting to eat. Musicians played as they ate and Bilbo chuckled as Ris sawed at her meat. "Need some help Ris?"_

 _"Yes!"_ Ris said and then frowned. "So are you only going to talk in khudzul now, cause I might not understand you."

"Not exclusively, I just got into the habit of speaking it." Bilbo said and smiled at his daughter, cutting up her meat. He finished eating and checked to see if Thorin was finished, grinning when he saw that Thorin was. He stepped out onto the dance floor and Bilbo grinned as he shocked Thorin for the second time that day. " _While I appreciate your awe, I believe you are supposed to move your feet, not stare at me, as I do so."_ Bilbo said and Thorin laughed. They danced together for three more dances, before Bilbo grew tired. "I'm going to go garden now."

"Have fun." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled, before going off with some servants to help him out of his clothes and into more comfortable gardening clothing. He spent the rest of the day in his garden, before going upstairs and falling into bed, a smile on his face


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Three months had passed since the ceremony and everyone was looking forward to midwinter and the birth of Bilbo's children. Bilbo himself was often found in the garden tending to his plants, which were almost ready for harvest. Despite his stomach being huge, he enjoyed the feeling of soil on his hands and under his feet.

He smiled as he worked in the garden humming a little tune as he did so. The dwarves who helped him tend to the large garden had been asked to go for the day. He smiled as he worked, before frowning as he felt a sudden radiating pain from his stomach. He groaned and laid down in the soil, grabbing at the dirt, he wouldn't scream because then whoever was close by would come running. He took off his tunic and trousers, as his body was ripped open, so he could give birth. He moaned softly refusing to scream, as uncomfortable as he was he didn't want an audience unless it was necessary.

He moaned softly again, before pushing hard again and again. He caught the baby and held it to him for a moment, before pushing again and hearing a second cry. He hastily put on his pants, and then laughed at his stupidity, he was surrounded by a large city; no one would hear the cries of two infants. He buried the afterbirth and the small amount of blood that had been shed, before cuddling both babies close to him and changing them from a backpack he had ready. He didn't want the rest of Erebor to see his children, before Thorin had a chance to. He smiled down at the two little faces, as he cleaned the blood away from their bodies.

"Hello my boys, you will be a challenge to tell apart." Bilbo said and the babies cooed at him, they both had Bilbo's hair and Thorin's eyes. He smiled down at the babies; they both looked so much like him. He held them to his breast after changing them from the pack he had ready. Both were smaller than Ris when she had been born and looked more like Bilbo than their sibling. Tiny hands reached for him and Bilbo smiled. "Its okay my boy, Papa is here." He assured them as they fed, the smallest suits were enormous on them. Bilbo reached into his pocket and pulled out his ring, vanishing and going through the back door. He walked through Erebor and back to his rooms. He then took the ring off and grinned at the babies. "We should go see Papa and Uncle Oin now, you seem to be healthy little ones, if a bit small but I think you should still be looked over."

He smiled down at his two sleeping children, before taking out a bit of yarn in two different colors and tying a piece around each of their wrists. He took out his baby sling and smiled at the astonished guards when he reached the council hall. "I'd like to see my husband."

"You have had the child?"

"Yes, I've had them, two little boys." Bilbo said with a grin, as the guard's mouths dropped.

"There are two of them?" One of the guards managed to ask and Bilbo shrugged.

"Well its not very common, but I have two Uncles, I suppose multiples are even less common for dwarves."

"To have two babes share the womb is very rare." One of the guards agreed and Bilbo nodded.

"I'd like to see my husband now, the sooner I see him, the sooner I can rest."

"You walked up here without your guards?"

"I didn't want the whole city to know, before my friends and husband did." Bilbo replied. "They might be princes, but they are also my children and if I want those that I consider family to know of them first, it is my affair and not yours. Hobbits have ways of going unseen and so I was in no danger." Bilbo assured. "Now can I see my husband?" The guards let him through and then the eyes of the council stared at him as he grinned and went over to Thorin.

"So are there customs we need to follow?" Bilbo asked and smiled at Thorin, who was staring at him wide eyed.

"You are three weeks early, is the baby alright?"

"Our sons are fine, or at least I think they are. Twins always come a bit early, but they are perfectly formed." He said and got almost the same reaction, as outside, except Thorin stared down at the babies for a moment, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted. "Thorin?" Bilbo demanded and shook his husband's shoulder.

"He'll be alright." Oin said sounding dazed. "Its just the shock, those born in the same womb are almost unheard of by our race. Can I see the babies?"

"Of course, do I have to wait to tell you their names?"

"No, though there will be a formal naming later." Fili said and grinned. "How are you feeling Bilbo?"

"Good the opening has closed and there's no bleeding, though I am tired."

"Of course you are tired, Gera was exhausted after she gave birth to our Gimli." Gloin said and grinned at Bilbo. "So don't leave us hanging Bilbo, what are their names?"

"I want to wait for Thorin to wake up." Bilbo said and frowned at his husband, before hesitantly passing the babies over to Oin, who stared down at them and smiled, before checking them over, which woke both babies. They stared up at Oin, before starting to cry. Oin finished looking them over, before handing them back to Bilbo.

"I think they want their Papa." Oin said and Bilbo smiled down at the two babies.

"Its alright little ones, Papa is here." Bilbo assured them and took one out of the sling. "Did Uncle Oin take off your suit?" He asked the baby, before changing him on the table. "Would you like to hold one boys?"

"I'm afraid I might drop him." Kili said

"You won't drop him, just be careful of his head." Bilbo assured the young dwarves, before handing the babies to both of them. "I want you to advise them, I won't be able to see them become king and I want to know that my boys will have some guidance."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll only live for another sixty or so years, which means if my boys grow as their sister does, I won't be there when they come of age." Bilbo said and everyone stared at him.

"You are that short lived?"

"Eighty is considered to be fairly old to a hobbit, my race only lives a little longer then men, and the oldest a hobbit ever lived was to a hundred and twenty."

"But Thorin will follow you when you go, does he know of this?" Fili asked and Bilbo nodded.

"We have discussed it, that's why we want you and Kili to advise our children and if they are too young to lead when we die, to lead in their stead until they are ready to assume the throne. I feel somewhat like they are stealing your birthright."

"Not at all, I am a sister son and I'm glad that I won't have to be king for long." Fili said and grinned. "Now I'm not the royal heir, I can be free of the responsibility of that and simply be a son of Durin as Kili is." Fili said and Thorin groaned.

"Bilbo?" Thorin asked groggily. "Did I fall asleep over my crafting table again, I had the strangest dream."

"No dear, you didn't and it wasn't a dream, we have twin boys."

"Twins?" Thorin demanded and Bilbo grinned.

"While rare even for hobbits, my family sometimes has multiples." Bilbo said and smiled, as Fili passed Thorin Frerin. "That's the first born, Frerin Thorn." Bilbo said and smiled at Thorin. "Kili is holding Fror Thistle."

"I like their names." Thorin said. "But how did you get them to be so alike?"

"I had a while to think about it, I suspected that there was more than one since the third month."

"Why didn't you tell us?" The company demanded and Bilbo laughed.

"You were unbearable enough as it was, it would have been worse if you had known." Bilbo said with a grin.

"They are very handsome young lads, but that was very dangerous Bilbo."

"There are seldom complications when hobbits give birth and if there were any problems, I would have called for my guards. I had no desire to have twenty dwarves staring at me as I gave birth Oin, it's supposed to be a private moment, between the barer, the baby and the Mother." Bilbo said and smiled, looking at both babies, as Fror began to fuss. "Give him to me Kili, I think he wants some milk." Bilbo said and Fili handed the baby to Bilbo. "Now there's a lad, what's wrong?" Bilbo asked the baby, before feeling his diaper, a moment later the child settled. "Oh you just wanted Papa, you're a demanding one aren't you."

"I think that in light of the birth of the princes, the council should be canceled for the day, so you can get some rest Bilbo." Balin said and Bilbo nodded.

"I'd appreciate that, but I don't want someone else raising the children, I understand why Ris needs to go to lessons, but I'll be taking care of the boys."

"But there are two of them Bilbo!" Thorin protested. "You should have help, otherwise you won't be able to do anything for years!"

"I don't think taking care of our children is doing nothing Thorin, I don't want a stranger to raise the boys. I am their barer I get at least some say in their upbringing."

"Of course you do, but they need to learn dwarven customs as well."

"And they will once they are ready to, I doubt they can learn much of anything at the moment, let me have them to myself and their family for five years at least, then they can be proper little princes." Bilbo said and Thorin frowned.

"Its not how it's done."

"Most likely not, but our boys aren't just dwarves, they get just as much from my race and I want them with me when they are babies." Bilbo replied.

"As is you're right to decide, but I can't wake up at all hours Bilbo, at least let someone watch them at night."

"Well I can always move out till they settle, it took a year last time for Ris to sleep through the night." Bilbo said and Thorin looked like he was about ready to tear his hair out.

"Bilbo I'm up at dawn every morning as it is, I can't be sleep deprived, when I'm sleep deprived I make mistakes."

"That's fair enough, but they are our children Thorin! I know that they are more than just our children too, but they are my babies, I ca..." Bilbo said and his eyes filled with tears at the thought of someone else caring for his children, someone else raising them.

"At least let me find someone to help with their care, Dis would be delighted to help, as would Gera and you care for both of them." Thorin said and Bilbo held Fror to his chest.

"I just want them to be ours, before they are a kingdom's."

"You know who I was when you agreed to marry me." Thorin said.

"That doesn't mean I agreed to this, I don't want some strange dwarrowdam caring for my babies."

"It wouldn't be a stranger, you would get to know them in time." Thorin said. "My mother was very close with my wet nurse and although I always wanted Mother first, I always knew that I could go to Aishia and she would help me."

"That's well and good, but I won't have another raise my children, I hardly see Ris anymore." Bilbo said. "You aren't taking my other babies away from me, not when I just had them." Bilbo then burst into tears and ran from the hall. He went back to his quarters and locked himself in with Fror. He looked down at the baby in his arms that had started crying. "Its alright Fror, Papa's here." Bilbo assured him and rocked him back and forth, until he settled. He then stared down at the infant in his arms. "I won't let them take you away from me so soon." Bilbo promised his son. "I am yours and you are mine, forever Fror." He stood and went to the nursery, changing Fror into some warm clothing and bundling him up in his blanket. "There now sweetheart, nice and warm." Bilbo said and sat in the rocking chair with his son, rocking back and forth slowly and gently as he sang," _You are more precious any gold, my little one a treasure to behold. A gift from the Father that's what you are, your parent's bright and shining star. You are a wonder to behold, my beautiful little stone. I thank the Father for your life; I hope to protect you from all strife. You are more precious than any gold, my little one a treasure to behold. Sleep now little one, close your_ Fror stopped crying and his eyes closed, he was snoring loudly a moment later. Bilbo smiled softly his own eyes drifting closed, as he sank into sleep.

 _He dreamed that he was in a cavern filled with all kinds of gems and precious metals, Mahuel smiled at him and Bilbo stared at him. "Who are you, why am I here?" Bilbo demanded._

 _Mahuel laughed." Fierce hobbit, you know who I am, I have come to give your children names and you your name and a blessing if you so desire."_

 _"Why now?"_

 _"Because you have decided to live among my people, without reservation. Though you might be wroth at the ways of my children, you won't leave them and you may need some assistance to get through to their thick skulls. Your children can have this gift as well, if you wish it."_

 _"I'd prefer it be if they wish it, I suppose you aren't going to tell me what you are offering me?" Now what fun would that be?." Mahuel offered and Bilbo nodded._

 _"Who am I to deny a blessing from the Valar." Bilbo said and Mahuel smiled._

 _"Very well your daughter's name is Blazing Fire Hearth Stone, your first born son is Smooth Cracked Opal and your second born is Shining Copper Crystal, your name is Deep Diamond Depths, as for my gift, you will see when you wake up._ A loud pounding woke him and he frowned, cradling the baby who was crying loudly. He realized that he must not have fallen asleep so much as passed out. That had just been a dream right, he hadn't really spoken to a...He stared as he saw himself glowing with a bright silver light, it was nearly blinding to him and he cried out in dismay. His son was glowing as well, a beautifully deep green glow but it wasn't what he considered to be at all normal.

"Bilbo! Come out please, its been five hours and Fror is wailing, Frerin wants his barer" Thorin said from the other side of the door, where he could hear Frerin crying as well. He got up from the rocker and pressed his nipple to Fror's mouth, watching as the infant sucked greedily, his eyes were slowly adjusting to the glow, it was like a new sense, but he didn't want to open that door and be bombarded by more people. Yet at the same time he knew that his son needed him and he had to go outside at some point. He shut his eyes half way, before opening the door, as Thorin stared at him, half a dozen guards were thrown into the room. There were so many colors, so bright and varied, it hurt Bilbo's eyes, and he took Frerin from Thorin, cradling the baby, who had a bright and vibrant blue aura.

"Bilbo? What is it?" Thorin asked, as Bilbo stared at the babies in his arms.

"I want to talk to my husband alone." Bilbo said and the guards left going outside and closing the hacked door behind them. "I think I need some tea, do you want some?" Bilbo asked and filled a teakettle, before putting down two mugs and taking out a bit of the dwarven liquor, he wanted to drink desperately.

"What's wrong Bilbo?" Thorin asked and Bilbo rubbed his head.

"I want some tea first, then we can talk." He said trying not to panic.

"If this is about the babes..."

"My vision is strange, I think Mahuel did something to it, when he visited me in my dreams."

"Strange how? I have heard legends of Mahuel giving gifts to those he finds worthy, but I have never seen such things with my own eyes."

"I can see auras, or at least that's what I think they are, we're both golden, but the boys are green and blue, the guards were a lot of different colors, it was overwhelming."

"I see you can sense auras." Thorin said doubtfully.

"He also gave me and the children a name."

"He gave you their names, it worried me that our daughter didn't have a true name, what are they?"

"Our children's names are _Blazing Fire Hearth Stone, Smooth Cracked Opal and Shining Copper Crystal, my name is Deep Diamond Depths."_ Bilbo frowned feeling the weight of the names, as Thorin stared at him.

 _"_ A true name is a deeply personal thing, I am honored that you chose to share our children's with me, but how do you have a name?" Thorin asked.

"Mahuel gave it to me." Bilbo said and smiled at Thorin.

"A true name shows a dwarf what your true soul is, yours is very beautiful. Dwarves over time have given certain meanings to the names Mahuel has chosen for us."

"Could you tell me what our children's names mean?"

"Of course, but their true name is who they are at the core of their being. Dwarves with Blazing are those that are passionate about what they love and hate, they can also be a bit headstrong."

"Sounds like our daughter." Bilbo said and laughed.

"Fire dwarves are quick to anger, but show deep and unconditional love towards those they care about. Hearth dwarves are nurturing by nature and get upset when others are. Stone dwarves are stubborn and believe that they are always right."

"It does sound like her." Bilbo said and got the kettle out pouring them both some tea and adding a bit of whiskey to his.

"So alcohol doesn't turn your stomach anymore?" Thorin asked and Bilbo nodded, before taking a large swallow and sighing. "Smooth dwarves are steady and calm by nature. Cracked dwarves have many sides to them and many different interests. Opal dwarves are thought to be wise and are often mentors. Shining dwarves draw people towards them and are happiest among others. Copper dwarves are warm and caring towards others. Crystal dwarves sometimes can see a situation from a perspective others would not and take a while to decide upon a course of action.

"What of my name?" Bilbo asked and Thorin grinned.

"Its actually quite similar to mine, my name is _Deep Shining Depths._ Deep dwarves are as you would think, they consider things like the nature of the universe and the races of middle earth. Depths dwarves care deeply about people and hide more than they show of themselves. Diamond dwarves often have special talents or abilities, they also tend to care deeply about others."

"Fascinating." Bilbo said and smiled at Thorin, before continuing to drink his tea. "Its nice to know something of who our sons may be one day." Bilbo said and Thorin nodded. Bilbo drained his tea and poured another cup, doctoring it.

"So you're planning on getting drunk?"

"Yes, before I go outside, being drunk sounds very good to me." Bilbo replied. "It might not be so bright then, or I won't care as much about it." Bilbo added and Thorin chuckled.

"Well at least give me some too." Thorin said and Bilbo nodded, handing him the bottle, as Thorin took a swig directly from it, Bilbo winced.

"You drink it strait?"

"Best way to drink it, if you don't drink it strait, then it doesn't give the same fire." Thorin said and sighed before taking another gulp from the bottle, before passing it to Bilbo who took a gulp and coughed hard.

"How can you drink that strait?" Bilbo demanded and Thorin laughed.

"Quite easily." He replied and took another gulp, this time Bilbo took a more cautious swallow, soon he felt pleasantly fuzzy and the world felt softer. He grinned at Thorin who smiled in return.

"Is it dinner time?"

"I think so, you want to go?" Thorin asked and Bilbo nodded, standing, as Thorin wrapped an arm around him and they walked unsteadily to the dining hall. Everyone eating at the hall stared at them and Bilbo felt his senses overwhelmed with color, he groaned shaking his head.

"Look at me." Thorin said and Bilbo turned his head and looked at Thorin. "Just at me, its alright Bilbo, you are alright." He said and Bilbo stared at a bright red aura he'd seen before, he turned around and saw the guards standing behind him, one of the dwarves had the same shade and Bilbo frowned. He then looked to the head table and stared at Gera and Gloin who had a deep golden aura to them. Dis' aura was a dull gold, flecked with the auras of her sons, which were different shades of blue. There were more colors in the hall, than Bilbo had any hope of naming. He took a deep breath and nodded, looking across the hall. He smiled as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw another couple that might be a match and decided to test his hunch about what gift Mahuel had given him.

He stepped away from Thorin and smiled at the young woman serving the tables. "Would you humor the consort?"

" _Of course, I am honored to be of service to you, but what do you want from me? I'm just a scullery wench."_

 _"I want to try something, it will just take a moment of your time."_

 _"What are you doing Bilbo?"_

 _"Give me a moment Thorin, please."  
_ Bilbo turned to the woman and took her by the hand leading her to the guard, placing her hand in his. The resulting flash blinded him, as their auras exploded and reformed into a pale gold color. " _You are meant for each other, congratulations."_

Bilbo said and shook his head. "Though I wish that Mahuel would be kinder in showing me." He added.

"Your words are disrespectful, you have no idea how great a gift you have been given." Thorin said his voice awed. "Is there anyone else in this hall that are soul stone?"

"Well you don't have to see this, I swear that nearly blinded me and yes, that dwarf and that dwarrowdam, please don't touch each other in my presence, it hurts." Bilbo said and sat at the table.

"What does my aura look like?" Fili asked.

"Yes tell me what my aura is!"

"Its hard to describe, I don't have the words." Bilbo said and started to serve himself some food. "It's going to take some getting used to, but soon I suppose it will feel normal, or at least I hope it will."

"I wish I could see auras and make people happy." Dis said and Bilbo smiled.

"Well maybe you will one day little one, Mahuel did offer to allow my children the gift if they wished for it once they were grown. It feels quite strange at the moment, but I suppose it will turn to another sense." he said and started eating, he noticed that Frerin's aura was getting slightly brighter and looked down to see that the baby was awake. He took Frerin out of the sling and felt his diaper. "Are you hungry my lad?" Bilbo asked and held a finger to Frerin's lips, the baby didn't latch on, but continued to stare at Bilbo. Bilbo smiled down at him and shifted him so he was more comfortable.

"My husband can stand the smell of ale now, bring out the casks, we need to celebrate the birth of my two strong sons." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled. "They will be presented within a fortnight and their given names shared with their people."

Bilbo drank as a flagon was set in front of before deciding that he had enough. He was quite impressed by the amount of ale Thorin drank, as he yelled out different toasts praising his sons. He guessed that the hall was required to drink to each one, because they drank each one. He laughed as Thorin praised every inch of both boys and several dwarves passed out. The toasts continued until only seven people were left awake in the hall except for Thorin's guards and the serving maids Ris who was looking a bit confused.

"Why is everyone drinking so much?" She asked.

"Because they are happy about the babies." Bilbo said as Bombur toppled forward onto the table snoring loudly, Thorin was nearly unintelligible at this point and Bilbo doubted that the remaining dwarves were even listening to what he was saying. Finally Thorin passed out and the three other dwarves quickly did as well. Bilbo shook his head and smiled at Thorin's silliness, he was glad that Thorin had decided to have a bit of fun, though he dreaded to think about how he'd be in the morning.

"Can you help me get him and the rest of the council to bed."

"Its part of our many duties, though could someone run a relief for Jialir, he won't be able to mind his post." The guard said as Jialir stared at the woman who smiled shyly at him.

"Of course, I didn't realize, I'm sorry Jialir."

"You have nothing to apologize for, I am glad to do my duty, although I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to escape our guard in future." He said and Bilbo chuckled.

"I guess I'm a bit like this one after all." He said and smiled at a sleepy Ris.

"Can you carry me Papa?"

"My stomach is still sore, I'm sorry baby." Bilbo said and Ris nodded.

"Its okay, can I see my brothers?"

"Of course." Bilbo said and smiled showing her the two babies.

"They are pretty, they look like you more than I do." Ris said. "They might be more like you too, will you love them more..."

"Never baby, I will love you all equally, if in different ways because all three of you are different people." Bilbo promised his daughter. "Though I hope one of the boys will like at least some of the things I enjoy, I will love all three of you no matter who you are, or who you become." Bilbo told her and kissed her forehead. "You love Daddy don't you?"

"Yes Papa." Ris said and Bilbo nodded.

"Do you love me any less, because you love Daddy?" Bilbo asked.

"No Papa, I don't." Ris said and Bilbo smiled.

"There you see, you don't love only one person throughout your life, you can love many different people." Bilbo said. "And you can love them for who they are. Will I try to teach the boys aspects of my culture, absolutely but I won't force them to learn, as I did with you." Bilbo promised and Ris nodded.

"Alright Papa, now can we go to bed? Are you going to sleep with me tonight?"

"I don't think you would want to sleep with me, young babies cry a lot Ris." Bilbo said. "They don't care if you are tired, if they are hungry or need something, they will cry regardless." Bilbo said and Ris frowned, before nodding. He smiled, before getting up from the table.

The two guards came back and the other guard ran to the woman, taking his hands in his own. She smiled at him and he grinned in return, before they left the hall. Bilbo shook a few of the company, trying to get them to rouse, he smiled when Fili and Kili groaned and opened their eyes. "Can you get yourselves to your rooms?" Bilbo asked.

"Why are there five of you, did we pass out?" Kili asked and Bilbo smiled.

"You lasted quite long, but if you can't walk by yourself, the guards will have to carry you. I'm trying to wake some people, but you are the only ones that have woken."

"Leave everyone, s'all ri."

"Fili Durinson is correct, usually on festival days if you pass out at the tables, you are left at the tables."

"That can't be very comfortable though." Bilbo said.

"Its not, but its impossible to move all these people." The guard said.

"At least move Thorin, he will be impossible in the morning if we don't." Bilbo said and the guards smiled.

"Very well, do you want help to your chambers Consort, Princes Fili and Kili?"

"I can manage fine on my own, what about you boys?"

"Sleep." Kili said and banged his head on the table, before it shot up again.

"Don' wanna walk." Fili said and Bilbo smiled.

"I know but it will be nicer to be in your own bed, won't it?" Bilbo asked and they both nodded. "Here you can lean against me, just don't upset the babies." Bilbo said and held out his arms, as he walked slowly with the swaying young men back to their quarters. He sat them on their beds and helped them take off their tunics, overcoats and shoes, before covering them with the blankets, they were asleep again within moments of getting into bed. Two dwarves then brought Thorin to their room. "Prop him up and I'll undress him." Bilbo said and the guards nodded leaving the room. Bilbo set the babies down in the wooden cradle he had gotten, insisting that he wanted a more portable one for the children. He pulled off Thorin's overcoat and shirt, before taking off his shoes and covering both of them. He fell asleep soon after.


End file.
